Five workers and a police officer in Hong Kong were injured and sent to hospital after being attacked by a wild boar at a construction site on Thursday.
The boar, estimated to be about one metre in length, rushed into a lift and took a brief ride in a building under construction on Stubbs Road in Wan Chai, according to the force. It managed to evade capturers and was last seen running up a hill before midday.
A force spokesman said it rammed into the five workers when it ran out of the lift on the first floor. He said a policeman was also injured by the animal before it retreated back into the lift and was subsequently fenced off.
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“After the attack, the wild pig ran back into the lift, which moved between the first and fifth floors,” the force spokesman said.
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He said while the lift stopped at different floors, it was not known which one the animal had exited from.
The boar fled the site and ran to a nearby cemetery before running up a hill, he added.
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The incident occurred shortly before 8.30am, according to police.
The spokesman added that one of the workers, 57, was injured in the arms and legs and sent to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam.
The other four workers and the policeman were sent to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai for treatment.
Police also notified the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
On July 28, a wild boar was caught and put down after it bit two passers-by outside Fo Tan MTR station in Sha Tin.
The department began euthanising wild pigs in 2021 after a spike in the number of boars attacking humans and entering urban areas. The policy replaced the government’s previous tactic of capturing, sterilising and relocating the animals.
The department euthanised 135 wild boars, or one per day on average, between January 5 and May 17 this year.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Is Hong Kong’s wild boar policy working? Authorities killed 1 every day this year, experts warn of ‘cruel and ineffective’ measures
- More Hong Kong residents injured by wild boars last year despite authorities culling hundreds of the animals
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