OrangeNews latest media target in powder-letter scare
OrangeNews in Cheung Sha Wan received a suspicious letter with white powder on 22 October, the third such incident in two days targeting Hong Kong newsrooms. Police and bomb disposal officers investigated, and staff were evacuated. The outlet condemned the act and said operations continued normally.
Local digital media outlet OrangeNews became the third newsroom in two days to receive a suspicious airmail letter containing unidentified white powder, police said on Thursday 22 October. The letter arrived at the outlet's editorial office in Cheung Sha Wan in the morning, prompting staff to alert police and evacuate some employees to the building's lobby.
Police received the report at approximately 11.19am and dispatched personnel from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau to the scene to examine the envelope's contents. The deployment marked the third time in less than 48 hours that the specialist unit had been called to a media premises under similar circumstances.
OrangeNews said its editorial staff were safe and that the department was operating normally. The outlet strongly condemned any attempt to disrupt journalistic work through abnormal means and said it would continue to uphold professional standards in serving its readers. It also said it trusted police to uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice.
The incident followed two nearly identical scares on Wednesday 21 October. Newsrooms at HK01 in Kwai Chung and Dot Dot News, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group based in Aberdeen, also received letters containing white powder sent by airmail from the United Kingdom.