HONG KONG - A BOTTLE of acid thrown into a crowd in one of Hong Kong's most densely populated shopping districts injured 24 pedestrians, police said on Tuesday, the third in a series of attacks that have injured nearly 100 people.

The latest attack on Monday night dominated the headlines in Hong Kong, with several newspapers showing photos of victims washing off the acid on the roadside.

Police said a bottle filled with a corrosive liquid was hurled onto a crowd in the busy Mong Kok district on Monday, injuring 24 people. None of the victims, ages 4 to 49, were seriously burned.

It is the third such attack in six months in the neighborhood. On the same street last month, 30 people suffered burns when two plastic bottles filled with acid were thrown down into a crowd. Another 46 were injured in a similar attack in the same neighborhood in December.

Mong Kok, which means 'busy corner' in Chinese, is a shopping hot spot that attracts thousands of locals and tourists, but the latest attacks have scared some shoppers away.

'I thought the attack would be stopped, but it happened again,' one of the victims surnamed Leung was quoted as saying in Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily News. 'I always go to Mong Kok, but from now on I'll never go to that area again.'

She suffered burns on her neck and back, according to Ming Pao.

Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang also condemned the attacks, saying it was 'cold blooded and evil' and that the assailant was 'scum of the society.' Police superintendent Edward Leung was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post Tuesday that it was possible the same person had carried out all three attacks.

He said in a radio interview Tuesday that officers are reviewing footage taken by recently installed surveillance cameras to monitor the area where the attacks took place. But he said it wasn't immediately clear whether the assailant would be identified in the footage because some of the images were too dark.

Investigators have also posted a HK$900,000 (S$169,500) reward for information leading to an arrest. If caught, the assailant could be charged with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment upon conviction, Supt Leung said earlier. -- AP