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Hong Kong protests: student who fell from parking lot during demonstrations dies Hong Kong protests: student who fell from parking lot during demonstrations dies
(about 1 hour later)
Chow Tsz-lok, 22, becomes first fatality from injuries sustained during protests that have rocked the cityChow Tsz-lok, 22, becomes first fatality from injuries sustained during protests that have rocked the city
A student at a Hong Kong university who fell during protests at the weekend has died, marking the first death from injuries sustained during the anti-government demonstrations that have roiled the city. A Hong Kong student who fell during clashes between police and protesters earlier this week has died, marking the first death from injuries sustained during anti-government demonstrations that have overtaken the city.
The Hospital Authority confirmed that Chow Tsz-lok, 22, had died of injuries early on Friday morning. He was a student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and was on a two-year undergraduate course at the computer science department. Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority confirmed that Chow Tsz-lok, 22, died early on Friday morning after suffering brain damage following a fall during protests on Sunday. Chow, a computer science student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, was found injured early Monday morning in a car park in Tseung Kwan O in Kowloon, where he was believed to have fallen one story.
Students and young people have been at the forefront of the hundreds of thousands who have taken to the streets since June to press for greater democracy, among other demands, and rally against perceived Chinese meddling in the Asian financial hub. Chow’s death is believed to be the first fatality linked to police action during a protest. Protesters had been trying to disrupt a police officer’s wedding, which was being held in the area. It was unclear why Cho was in the car park or why he fell.
The circumstances of how Chow received his injuries were unclear but police said he was believed to have fallen from one floor to another in a parking lot during weekend crowd dispersal operations in a district east of the Kowloon peninsula. Police had fired multiple rounds of tear gas nearby, but security footage showed that police had not fired heavy rounds of tear gas in the car park before Chow fell.
Many demonstrators had thronged the hospital over this week to pray for Chow and also staged rallies at universities across the former British colony. The death is likely to escalate protests and fuel public anger at the government as demonstrators continue to demand an investigation into the behaviour of the police, accused of using excessive force on protesters.
Chow’s death is expected to spark fresh protests and fuel anger and resentment against the police, who are already under immense pressure amid accusations of excessive force as the city grapples with its worst political crisis in decades. Police said that the location where Chow fell was about 130 yards from where police conducted a dispersal, using tear gas, rubber bullets, and beanbag rounds as well as one sponge grenade. The police have denied allegations that they blocked emergency responders from reaching Chow.
Hong Kong is facing its worst political crisis in decades as hundreds of thousands of residents, many of them students and young people have taken to the streets since June to press for greater democracy, among other demands.
The protests, ignited by a now-scrapped extradition bill for people to be sent to mainland China for trial, have evolved into wider calls for democracy, posing the biggest challenge for Chinese president, Xi Jinping, since he took charge in 2012.The protests, ignited by a now-scrapped extradition bill for people to be sent to mainland China for trial, have evolved into wider calls for democracy, posing the biggest challenge for Chinese president, Xi Jinping, since he took charge in 2012.
Protesters have thrown petrol bombs and vandalised banks, stores and metro stations, while police have fired rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannon and, in some cases, live ammunition in scenes of chaos. Confrontations between police and protesters have grown increasingly violent with injuries on both sides, but before now no one has been killed in clashes. On 1 October, police shot a protester in the chest with a live round and another in the leg on 4 October, but both recovered. In September, a journalist was blinded in one eye after being hit by a rubber bullet fired by police.
Notices circulated on social media said students planned a march on Friday at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Many demonstrators had thronged the hospital over this week to pray for Chow and also staged rallies at universities across the former British colony.
On Friday, protesters and democracy activists mourned Chow and students called for a candle light vigil on Friday at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
On the Reddit-like forum LIHKG, demonstrators called for people to wear all black and cover their faces in masks on Saturday to honour Chow. Others called for flash mobs around the city to remember him.
Demonstrators also called for CCTV footage to be released showing Chow’s fall, while others blamed the police and demanded revenge. “The black police must return a life. Blood for blood,” one user wrote on LIHKG.