Daring theft at Tsim Sha Tsui, diamonds worth HK$24m taken

HONGKONG : In a brazen smash-and-grab attack, three thieves fled on a motorbike with HK$24 million worth of jewellery after smashing a store window of a jewelry shop in Tsim Sha Tsui, one of Hong Kong’s busiest shopping districts, on Tuesday morning. According to South China Morning Post, the raid took just 10 seconds to execute and prompted local police to mount a citywide manhunt. The robbers targeted the TST branch of Chow Sang Sang Jewellery on the ground floor of Silvercord shopping arcade at 30 Canton Road at about 10am, SCMP reports. Chief inspector Frances Lee King-hei of Yau Tsim police district said nine pieces of jewellery were stolen with the most expensive item costing HK$10 million. According to Lee, two of the robbers used sledgehammers to smash the display window before jumping on a getaway motorbike driven by the third man. The motorcycle, which had no number plate, sped off before officers arrived. According to police, the trio were believed to be non-ethnic-Chinese men.

The Standard reported that a pedestrian captured their escape on video which showed the driver was wearing a white helmet and black long-sleeved clothes. Sitting behind him was a man in a wide-brimmed hat and holding a long hammer and a bag containing the stolen items.