Tens of thousands view clip of man and woman fighting inside moving train carriage in latest incident to hit Hong Kong’s mass transit system. As couple grapple, train jolts sending passengers flying to the floor, ‘Wow, MTR-MMA competition’ one netizen quips. — SCMP
A video clip of a fracas on Hong Kong’s mass transit railway, or MTR, system has been likened to a mixed martial arts, or MMA, bout and viewed tens of thousands of times on social media.
The clip which is captioned “Wow, MTR-MMA competition!” has been widely circulated on Facebook and provoked an array of comments from netizens.
In the video, a man dressed in black with short hair can be seen hitting a long-haired woman. Chaos ensues when another male passenger in a striped shirt tries to intervene and another man also tries to keep the two protagonists apart.
As the female passenger fights back, a jolt in the movement of the train upsets the balance of several passengers, causing a melee that sent them flying to the floor of the compartment.
Local media outlet, HK01 described the falling passengers as being “like bowling pins”.
The incident ends when the female passenger and her assailant collapse on the train carriage floor next to the seats amid shouts from other passengers.
A Facebook account called “Today Review67” uploaded the video on the afternoon of Dec 18. It is unclear who the filmmaker is. It has already garnered 200,000 views on Facebook.
It is not clear where or when the clip was filmed but some netizens have speculated that it is somewhere on the Tung Chung line. It is also not clear what caused the fight.
The video has sparked much debate on the Internet among shocked netizens, with one commenting that it was like a “Hong Kong version of Street Fighter” – a video game franchise.
With the city in the middle of a cold snap, others joked, “It’s too cold, they are just warming up” while some poked a Covid-19 jibe at the participants, “Please keep a social distance”.
Some netizens also questioned why the filmmaker did not try to stop them fighting.
A spokesman for the MTR told local media outlet HK01 that it was not clear where the video came from or when it was taken and that there had been no recent reports or requests for help from passengers.
Over the past two years, fights have often broken out on the MTR.
In July, a fight took place on the concourse of Sham Shui Po station involving a middle-aged man and a younger male. Both men were arrested by police on suspicion of “fighting in a public place”.
In May 2021, two passengers were also arrested after fighting on a Tung Chung Line platform. – South China Morning Post
