Hong Kong - A Hong Kong couple have been arrested after leaving their five daughters alone at home for about a week with 130 US dollars, a news report said Thursday.

Police discovered the girls, aged 6 to 15, had been left alone by their parents when they arrested one of them, aged 9, for shoplifting, the Hong Kong Standard newspaper reported.

The parents had left the children in the public housing flat for at least five days during their visit to mainland China.

The police arrested the couple upon return for alleged child neglect but later released them on bail. The girls were taken to an orphanage, the newspaper said.

Many cases have been reported about children being left unattended at home in the high-rise city and many have died from falling from apartment windows.

Nine out of 10 Hong Kong children, aged 11 or under, had experiences of being left home by their parents, while one in eight have stayed home alone overnight, according to a 2007 survey.

Sociologists cited a tendency for both parents to work and a lack of child-care facilities in the city of 6.9 million people as a reason. (dpa)