MTR : Occurrence at Prince Edward Station on 31 August

PR053/19 10 September 2019

Occurrence at Prince Edward Station on 31 August

On the night of 31 August 2019, staff at Prince Edward Station sought police assistance after learning about passenger disputes on a train at Platform 3 (Kwun Tong Line to Tiu Keng Leng) which obstructed the train doors from closing. Considering that chaos prevailed at the station, smouldering was found in a train compartment and a number of Passenger Alarm Devices on the train were activated, evacuation was triggered at Prince Edward Station at 10:53pm due to safety concerns. Police subsequently entered the station for law enforcement.

The Corporation understands the public's concerns about the incident at Prince Edward Station on 31 August. The timeline collated from the in-station CCTV footage and the relevant images with timestamp are provided below for reference. Nevertheless, the footage was not comprehensive as three of the CCTVs at Prince Edward Station had been damaged or defaced that night and could not continue recording. The last recording time of two damaged CCTVs located at Platform 4 (Tsuen Wan Line to Central), was at around 10:52pm and 10:53pm respectively.

The Corporation has installed CCTVs on its station premises to assist staff in managing day-today railway service, such as the implementation of crowd control measures when necessary. Stringent procedures and guidelines on the usage of CCTV footage and the handling of relevant information are in place. The Corporation also stipulates that only authorised persons can check the CCTV footage in accordance with the established procedures.

In general, CCTV footage will be destroyed 28 days after it was recorded. When there is any special occurrence giving rise to a need to review relevant footage at a later time, such as for investigation purposes, it will be kept for three years. This arrangement is made with reference to the guidelines of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data. Relevant footage recorded at Prince Edward Station and other relevant stations on 31 August will be kept for three years.

With regards to claims that there was a fatality at Prince Edward Station, there was no death report that day according to the station's record. Besides, relevant government departments have clarified earlier that there was no fatal case during the occurrence at Prince Edward Station on the night of 31 August.

Evacuation at Prince Edward Station commenced at 10:53pm. According to station records, a team of ambulancemen from the Fire Services Department entered the station at 11:20pm due to an emergency ambulance call and later brought a frightened passenger out of the station. As there were many injuries at Prince Edward Station that night, another batch of ambulancemen from the Fire Services Department were deployed to carry out initial assessment of the injured persons. After an assessment of the public order situation nearby Prince Edward Station, the Police later advised that it was not appropriate for the remaining injured persons to leave from the station entrances. Upon the Police's request, the Corporation arranged a special non-passenger train for the ambulance incident officer and

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ambulancemen to escort the injured to travel from Prince Edward Station to Lai Chi Kok Station where seven injured persons were sent to hospital for treatment. In view of different accounts of the number of injured persons, the Corporation has further reviewed station records and found that ambulancemen had been summoned to Yau Ma Tei Station that night after station staff noticed there were injured persons on a Central-bound train that arrived at the station. According to the CCTV records, ambulancemen sent three injured persons and one passenger out of Yau Ma Tei Station successively at 11:31pm.

Prince Edward Station was one of the MTR stations that was more seriously damaged on the night of 31 August and more time was required to carry out the repair works. As a result, it could not be re-opened as usual on the following day and was only re-opened to serve passengers in the morning of 2 September.

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1. The timeline collated from the CCTV footage recorded at Prince Edward and Lai Chi Kok Stations is as below:

10:42pm	• A Kwun Tong Line train bound for Tiu Keng Leng (T07) arrived at
	Platform 3 (Kwun Tong Line bound for Tiu Keng Leng) of Prince
	Edward Station. Train doors could not be closed successfully after
	passengers alighted and boarded the train.
10:44pm	• The train captain noticed there were passenger disputes in the car
	1 train compartment and reported the case to the Operations
	Control Centre (OCC).
	• Meanwhile, the train captain made several attempts to close the
	train doors, without success.
10:45pm	• OCC reported the passenger disputes on the Kwun Tong Line
	train to the Police for assistance.
10:47pm	• Passenger Alarm Devices on the train at Platform 3 (Kwun Tong
	Line bound for Tiu Keng Leng) were activated.
10:50pm	• OCC instructed the train captain of the Kwun Tong Line train at
	Platform 3 (Kwun Tong Line bound for Tiu Keng Leng) to arrange
	detrainment. Passengers left the train compartment.
	• Smoke emitted from the train compartment at Platform 3.
	• A train (T28) arrived at Platform 4 (Tsuen Wan Line bound for
	Central). When passengers alighted and boarded the train,
	Passenger Alarm Devices on the train were activated.
10:53pm	• Evacuation was triggered at Prince Edward Station.
	• Riot Police entered Prince Edward Station via Entrance/ Exit C2.
10:56pm	• Riot Police arrived at Platforms 3 and 4 and carried out operations
	on both trains.
11:04pm	• The train at Platform 4 (Tsuen Wan Line bound for Central) of
	Prince Edward Station departed for Yau Ma Tei Station.
11:06pm	• The first batch of firemen entered Prince Edward Station via
	Entrance/ Exit B1.
11:07pm	• The train at Platform 3 (Kwun Tong Line bound for Tiu Keng Leng)
	of Prince Edward Station departed for Shek Kip Mei Station.
11:10pm	• Train services on the Kwun Tong Line and Tsuen Wan Line were
	suspended.
11:20pm	• The first batch of ambulancemen from the Fire Services
	Department entered Prince Edward Station via Entrance/ Exit E.
11:31pm	• A frightened passenger was sent out of the station from
	Entrance/Exit E by ambulancemen.
11:34pm	• A batch of firemen entered Prince Edward Station via Entrance/
	Exit E.
(1 September)	• Another batch of ambulancemen from the Fire Services
00:09am	Department arrived at Entrance/ Exit E.
00:23am	• Ambulancemen entered Prince Edward Station via Entrance/Exit E
	with the assistance of MTR staff and firemen.
00:54am	• Per Police's request, a Tsuen Wan Line non-passenger train was
	arranged to run from Prince Edward Station to Lai Chi Kok Station.
1:23am	• Train departed from Prince Edward Station.
1:28am	• Train arrived at Lai Chi Kok Station.
1:35am to	• The Police and ambulancemen escorted a total of seven injured

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1:49am

persons to leave Lai Chi Kok station via station lift.

2. The timeline collated from the CCTV footage recorded at Yau Ma Tei Station is as below:

11:09pm	• A Tsuen Wan Line train bound for Central (T28) arrived at Yau Ma
	Tei Station from Prince Edward Station.
	• Station staff summoned an ambulance to treat injured persons.
11:19pm	• Firemen from the Fire Services Department arrived at the station
	platform.
11:31pm	• Three injured persons were sent out of the station by
	ambulancemen from the Fire Services Department for further
	treatment.
11:49pm	• Ambulancemen from the Fire Services Department took another
	person to leave the station.

Annex

Prince Edward Station

1. At 10:42pm, a Kwun Tong line train bound for Tiu Keng Leng (T07) arrived at Platform 3 (Kwun Tong Line bound for Tiu Keng Leng) of Prince Edward Station. Train doors could not be closed successfully after passengers alighted and boarded the train.

2. At 10:50pm, the Operations Control Centre (OCC) instructed the train captain of the Kwun Tong Line train at Platform 3 (Kwun Tong Line bound for Tiu Keng Leng) to arrange detrainment. Passengers left the train compartment. Smoke emitted from a train compartment at Platform 3. A train (T28) arrived at Platform 4 (Tsuen Wan Line bound for Central). When passengers alighted and boarded the train, Passenger Alarm Devices on the train were activated.