Published 11:16 IST, November 8th 2019
Hong Kong: Student who fell from car park during clashes dies
Hong Kong student who fell from a car park during clashes dies. Alex Chow was a computer science student from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
A student in Hong Kong, who was protesting along with the pro-democracy protesters on November 4, reportedly fell off a multi-story car park and has been declared dead by the doctors on November 8. He fell from the car park amid clashes between police and protesters. The incident is likely to raise further tensions in the protests that have been continuing since June. Pro-democracy leader Joshua Wong said Hong Kong residents "mourn the loss of the freedom fighter in HK. We will not leave anyone behind - what we start together, we finish together. Given the losses suffered by HK society in the past month, the gov must pay the price".
The student died of cardiac arrest: Hospital
Queen Elizabeth Hospital confirmed that Alex Chow, a computer science undergraduate of the University of Science and Technology, was certified dead at 8.09 AM on Friday.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology students' union said the man was 22-year-old and was an undergraduate in the computer science department. Many reports also mentioned his name as Chow Tsz-lok. A Chinese daily reported that he died of cardiac arrest after being in a coma since early Monday morning. Chow was taken to the hospital in an unconscious state in the wee hours Monday following late-night clashes between police and protesters in Tseung Kwan O district. The student was found under the building on the ground in an unconscious state with heavy blood loss.
Unclear how he fell from the building
It was the same spot where Police had fired tear gas on protesters. Protesters were seen hurling objects from the building. It is still uncertain how Alex met such fate, i.e. whether he was pushed deliberately or fell in the chaos. Some reports suggest that he fell while police fire tear-gas. Protesters claim that police also delayed the deployment of emergency medical services to the victim as it was busy firing tear gas. Though the police department has admitted to firing tear gas to disperse protesters near the car park, they said there was only a small amount of gas in the air when emergency responders found Chow.
Updated 11:51 IST, November 8th 2019