Hong Kong protester dies
Protesters walk along a debris-strewn street Friday in Hong Kong. A Hong Kong college student who fell Monday from a parking garage during a clash between pro-democracy protesters and police died Friday. Thousands of people waited in line to light candles and place remembrances at the parking garage. More photos are available at arkansasonline.com/119hongkong/.
HONG KONG — A Hong Kong university student who fell off a parking garage after police fired tear gas during clashes with anti-government protesters died Friday in a rare fatality in five months of unrest, fueling more anger against authorities in the semiautonomous Chinese territory.
The Hospital Authority said the 22-year-old man died Friday morning, but didn’t provide further details. The government expressed “great sorrow and regret” over Chow Tsz-Lok’s death and police said they will propose a public inquest.
At the parking garage in the Tseung Kwan O district, thousands waited in a long line to light candles and place white flowers and paper cranes at the spot where Chow fell.
Although the cause of his fall has not been determined, it deepened anger against police, who have been accused of heavy-handed tactics including widespread use of tear gas and pepper spray since the protests demanding democratic changes started in June.
Chow had reportedly been in a coma with a brain injury since he was found early Monday sprawled in a pool of blood on the second floor of the building. Police believed he plunged from an upper floor but it wasn’t captured on security cameras.