A 70-year-old man died on Thursday after being hit by ‘hard objects’ thrown between government supporters and protesters during the anti-government demonstration in Hong Kong, officials said. The latest death comes after the second death in Hong Kong’s anti-government protest within less than a week.
Earlier this week, a university student died after falling from the third floor of a parking garage during the demonstration.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said the man was an outsourced worker of theirs who had been on his lunch break. Upon being hit with the hard object and fallen unconscious, the man was taken to the city’s Prince of Wales Hospital, where he was declared dead, authorities confirmed.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department expressed profound sadness on Friday at the death of its worker and said it was providing assistance to his family.
Anti-government protesters paralyzed parts of Hong Kong for a fifth day on Friday, forcing schools to close and blocking some highways as students built barricades in university campuses and authorities struggled to tame the violence.
Meanwhile, China’s embassy in the United Kingdom and the Hong Kong government strongly condemned and expressed strong indignation on Friday at the attack on a Hong Kong government official in London.
Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng, who was in London to promote Hong Kong as a dispute resolution and deal-making hub, was targeted by a group of protesters who shouted “murderer” and “shameful”.
A statement by the Hong Kong government said Cheng suffered “serious bodily harm” but gave no details.
The protests escalated in June over a now-scrapped extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial. They have since evolved into calls for greater democracy, among other demands.
