Knife-wielding thieves have stolen 600 toilet paper rolls from outside a Hong Kong supermarket amid shortages caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Investigators caught two of the three men and recovered all of the toilet paper - worth about HK$1,700 (nearly £98) - stolen from the Mong Kok district on Monday morning.

Media reports say a truck driver had placed about 50 packs of toilet rolls outside the supermarket when the three men took them.

Image: Authorities blame false online rumours for the panic buying

Several hours later, police reportedly found the stolen rolls in a nearby guesthouse.

Footage shows police officers standing beside several crates of toilet rolls outside the supermarket, with one only half stacked.


Supplies of the commodity have become extremely scarce in Hong Kong and mainland China amid concerns the coronavirus will spread further.

Panic has emptied supermarket shelves, with people stockpiling everything from cleaning products to food supplies.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong's government closed some borders with the mainland, causing concern that supply chains from China would be blocked.

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Photos posted on social media show masked customers walking through empty shelves in Hong Kong supermarkets, as well as long queues when new stock arrives.

This is despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak.

The death toll from COVID-19, the medical name for the acute respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, has hit more than 1,773, according to the Johns Hoskins Centre for Systems Science and Engineering.

So far there have been more than 71,000 suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19.

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