‘I just want a safe place to live with my son’: parents in Hong Kong share tear gas woes after months of protest clashes
- One mother tells of having to move out of her flat after the irritant came through the air conditioning and caused her son to break out in rashes
- Newly elected local councillors call on government to release information on the components of the non-lethal weapon
A single mother who lives in a subdivided flat in Mong Kok has been left homeless for a month after tear gas seeped into her home and caused her son to break out in rashes.
The pair are two of the many Yau Tsim Mong district residents whose lives have been affected by the police’s use of tear gas to disperse anti-government protests in the area last month. The mother, who only wanted to be known as Ko, spoke at a press conference on Saturday along with two other affected residents.
“I was sleeping when the smell of tear gas leaked into my flat through the air conditioning. I could not breathe and my chest hurt. After that, I took my son and left, to my hometown in China,” Ko said.
“I just want a safe place to live with my son,” Ko said, breaking down in tears as she spoke.
She said she left on November 13 after a series of weekday protests starting on November 11 crippled transport and businesses across the city. Clashes between anti-government protesters and police led to tear gas being fired in various districts, including Mong Kok.