A 58-year-old mainland Chinese man who was queuing to buy concert tickets was attacked by two local men with a knife in Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island on Sunday.
The victim, surnamed Zheng, had held second place in the queue for 11 days outside a ticket office at Youth Square in Chai Wan. He was waiting to buy concert tickets for cantopop star Andy Lau Tak-wah, Apple Daily reported.
At about 4 a.m., Zheng was awakened by two men aged between 20 and 30, who demanded that he give up his place in the queue. When he refused, they slashed him without warning.
Zheng, who suffered injuries to his left hand and left ear, was sent to the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital.
The “My Love Andy Lau Concert shows” run for 20 days from December 12 to January 3, with ticket prices ranging from HK$380 to HK$980 (US$48 to US$124). However, scalpers are demanding HK$2,668 to HK$38,888 for a HK$980 ticket, and at least HK$1,018 for the cheapest tickets, Metro Daily reported.
People started queuing up outside ticket offices in mid-August, three weeks before tickets go on sale on September 4.
Hours after the attack, Andy Lau released a video calling upon police to step up patrols outside ticket offices. In it, he admitted it was difficult to find a solution to ticket speculation.
This was the second knife attack over concert ticket sales in a month.
Earlier this month, a 26-year-old man was attacked by two men while he was queuing for tickets to see Singaporean singer Wayne Lim Jun Jie.
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