Man Stabs Two Women To Death In Knife Attack At Hong Kong Mall

Two ladies were stabbed to death at a Hong Kong shopping mall in a seemingly random act of violence that has shaken the city.

The attacker seems to pin one of the women to the floor and repeatedly stab her in graphic videos that have gone viral on social media.

They also show the woman's companion attempting to defend her, but failing. She, too, was subsequently stabbed, though this is not shown on the video.

After being attacked in the Hollywood Plaza mall in Diamond Hill on Friday afternoon, two women, ages 22 and 26, were brought to the hospital where they later died from their injuries.

Senior Superintendent Elieen Chung Lai-yee of the Hong Kong Police Force said the assailant, who did not appear to know the two women, bought the 12-inch knife used in the attack moments earlier at the same shopping centre.

“He walked around for a few minutes and then launched his attack on the first victim,” she said.

According to Lai, the other woman tried to intervene to protect her but ended up being attacked.

"We found multiple knife wounds on (the two women), and they were bleeding profusely," she explained.

The suspect, a 39-year-old unemployed man with a history of mental illness, was apprehended by police on suspicion of murder, they added.

In a city where such acts of violence are uncommon, the shockingly random nature of this attack has sent shockwaves through the community.

There are only a few dozen murders per year, whereas New York City has several hundred. Compared to the over 17,000 in New York and the over 24,000 in London, only 77 robberies were reported there in 2017.

The mall is located in a mostly residential area to the north of the city, and on Saturday, several members of the public left floral tributes there.

In a statement released on Saturday, Mayor John Lee expressed sadness over the attack and offered his sympathies to the women's loved ones.

In addition to telling people to cease posting videos of the attack online, Lee, a former police officer, advised that they "seek professional support if they experience any emotional distress."

In a nutshell, "this is an isolated case," Lee affirmed.