The 41-year-old was attacked outside the Shangri-La hotel in the Kowloon district of the city at 4:00 am (2000 GMT) on Tuesday, a police spokesman said in a statement.

The victim, named in reports as senior triad boss Lee Tai-lung, was hit by the car as he stepped out of his silver Mercedes-Benz after parking it at the hotel, the South China Morning Post said.

"Another vehicle arrived, then several men got out of it and attacked the man with knives," chief inspector Glenn O'Neill of the anti-triad unit told the Post.

Both cars and the attackers fled the scene immediately and a police statement said two burnt-out cars which they believed to be linked to the attack were found a few hours later.

The victim suffered "serious chop wounds to his arms" and was certified dead two hours after the attack, the statement said.

An investigation is now being carried out by the police anti-triad unit, the statement said.

The Post said police were looking for at least five men in connection with the attack.

Lee was a senior member of the Sun Yee On triad group, who held an enforcer role within the group, various reports said, citing unnamed police sources.

About 40 men attended a ritual outside the hotel at about 10:40 pm Tuesday, calling out "Come back dai lo (big brother)," the South China Morning Post reported. Triad members usually call their leader "dai lo."

Several triad gangs operate across Hong Kong and Macau and are widely involved in extortion, prostitution, drugs and copyright piracy.

Violence tends to be limited to Chinese areas away from expatriate and tourist areas.

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