Hong Kong - Twice as many people were murdered in Hong Kong in 2008 compared to the previous year as the city saw a spate of cases involving the killing of prostitutes, police said Wednesday.

There were 36 murders in the relatively low-crime city of 6.9 million in 2008, twice as many as in 2007. More than half of the cases involved family and relationship disputes, police announced.

In five of the murders the victims were prostitutes, a trend that has led welfare groups to call on the government to give sex workers greater protection against attack.

Current anti-prostitution laws in the former British colony mean that women can be prosecuted if they work as prostitutes in an apartment together but not if they work alone.

Four prostitutes were murdered in the apartments where they worked the space of three days in March last year. A Pakistani suspect was later arrested and charged with three of the killings.

Overall crime in Hong Kong fell by around 3 per cent in 2009. according to police statistics. There were 78,500 reported crimes compared to more than 80,000 in 2007. (dpa)