A 17-year-old Filipino died over the weekend after plunging from a footbridge on Peng Chau, one of Hong Kong’s outlying islands.
Hong Kong police informed the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong that the teenager fell from Chau Tsai Bridge on Peng Chau on Friday evening, the diplomatic post confirmed in a June 29 statement. “The Consulate General of the Philippines in Hong Kong has received a police notification on the death of a 17-year-old male who fell from Chau Tsai Bridge in Peng Chau last Friday evening,” the consulate said.
The South China Morning Post, citing details of the incident, reported the boy had been with two companions and was sitting on the bridge’s railing at the time. He stood up around 7:18 p.m. and took several steps along the railing before losing his footing and dropping into the water below. His friends reportedly watched him attempt to swim toward shore, then lost sight of him and alerted police.
Emergency responders recovered the teenager and the Government Flying Service flew him to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, where he was “declared dead shortly thereafter.” The victim carried a Hong Kong identity card, according to the SCMP account.
Investigators have so far found “no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death at this point in time.”
The consulate said it stands ready “to assist the family with the handling of the remains.”
