HONG KONG • The Hong Kong police have said they are investigating an attempted murder case after a man was set on fire by rioters. The 57-year-old man had suspected inflammable liquid poured on him and was set ablaze by the culprit on a footbridge in the Ma On Shan area on Monday, the police said in a statement yesterday.

When police officers arrived, the man was found to have multiple burn injuries. He was admitted to the Prince of Wales Hospital in critical condition.

The culprit fled the scene before the police arrived. Investigations by the Commercial Crime Bureau are under way, the statement added.

Condemning the attack as "totally inhumane", Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Monday evening that the rioters would never succeed in achieving their so-called political demand by hurting ordinary people.

On Monday, protesters wreaked havoc across Hong Kong by paralysing traffic, setting fire at various locations and assaulting residents who did not agree with them.

Rioters continued to disrupt traffic yesterday, blocking roads and obstructing railway tracks in multiple locations.

Police have also confirmed that after a protester was shot in Sai Wan Ho on Monday morning, a Police Tactical Unit officer tried to turn the young man around as he was "unaware of the injury".

"We have no intention of worsening any arrested person's injury, but safety always comes first," Senior Superintendent Kong Wing Cheung of the police public relations branch was cited by the South China Morning Post as saying.

The condition of the protester has improved and he has been arrested for unlawful assembly.

XINHUA