This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

A man went on a knife rampage in Hong Kong leaving at least five people wounded, including a local pro-democracy politician who had his ear bitten off, capping another chaotic day of political unrest in the city.

Flashmob rallies erupted on Sunday inside multiple shopping centers across the city, sparking clashes with riot police.

The violence was less sustained than Saturday when police and protesters fought hours of cat-and-mouse battles after thousands took to the streets for an unsanctioned march.

But the day ended with a knife attack taking place outside a shopping mall in Taikoo Shing, a middle-class neighbourhood on the main island where protesters had gathered.

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Witnesses told local media that a Mandarin-speaking man attacked people shortly after shouting pro-Beijing slogans.

Live footage showed Andrew Chiu, a local pro-democracy councillor, having his ear bitten off after trying to subdue the attacker, while a second man was seen unconscious in a growing pool of blood as bystanders desperately tried to stem wounds to his back.

The alleged assailant, wearing a grey T-shirt, was then beaten by the crowd until police and emergency teams arrived.

Authorities said five people were wounded – four men and one woman. Two victims were in a critical condition, two had serious injuries and one was stable.

Police revised down their wounded toll from six to five people adding three people were arrested, without detailing whether the alleged knife attacker was among those reported as injured or arrested.

A witness, who gave only her surname Leung, told RTHK News that the man shouted in Mandarin – the language spoken on the Chinese mainland – before attacking her brother-in-law who argued with him.

“The man came out from the doorway and yelled a sentence in Mandarin, it seemed like liberate Taiwan or something,” she said.

Speaking to reporters outside the hospital where Chiu was taken to, pro-democracy lawmaker James To said the attacker shouted “reclaim Taiwan and Hong Kong”.

China views self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.