12 students unwell after suspect drinks at sports day
HK01 · 10 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
At least 12 students reported feeling unwell on Tuesday after free bottled drinks handed out outside Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground during a school sports day were found with suspected puncture marks. Police said a parent called at 2pm, detectives collected bottles for examination, and the school later said the drinks had been distributed outside the venue by an external supplier.
Key Points
- Police said a parent reported at 2pm on September 22 that a child attending a sports day at Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground had received a drink with suspected puncture marks on its packaging.
- Reports identified the school as Maryknoll Secondary School, which was holding its athletics meet at the sports ground in Wong Tai Sin when the drinks were handed out outside the venue.
- By late afternoon, at least 12 students said they felt unwell, with symptoms including stomach pain and dizziness, and emergency crews sent nine ambulances and a mobile command unit.
- Reporters and police sources said officers searched rubbish bins near the entrance and on Wing Ting Road, seizing discarded bottles of the sports drink for testing and evidence.
- Student accounts circulating online said the drinks were offered free at lunchtime, with some distributors said to have claimed they were “doing charity”, before teachers collected the bottles.
Why It Matters
The case centres on drinks distributed just outside a school event rather than by the school itself, raising immediate questions about who supplied them and whether more students may have taken them away before the warning was issued. Police have classified the case as a request for police investigation and assigned it to the Wong Tai Sin criminal investigation team, while the school says it is monitoring students and coordinating with parents.