Hong Kong student dies days after fall during Hong Kong clash

A student who fell from a car park while police and protesters were clashing last weekend has died.

Paper cranes are placed on a wall outside the intensive care unit treating Alex Chow, who died on Friday. Picture: AFP

A Hong Konger who fell from a car park while police and protesters were clashing last weekend has died, the first student death in five months of anti-government demonstrations in the city that is likely to be a trigger for fresh unrest.

Alex Chow, a 22-year-old computer science undergraduate, was certified dead at 8.09am on Friday, Queen Elizabeth Hospital said.

Mr Chow was taken to hospital in an unconscious state in the early hours of Monday morning following late-night clashes ­between police and protesters.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology student was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood inside a car park that police had fired teargas into after protesters hurled objects from the building.

The precise chain of events leading to Mr Chow’s fall are unclear and disputed, but he has been embraced by the protest movement and his death could trigger renewed clashes as the city braces for another weekend of rallies. Police are under pressure, accused of excessive force.

In June, Marco Leung, 35, fell to his death from construction scaffolding after unfurling banners against a now withdrawn bill that would have allowed extradition to mainland China. Several young people who have taken their own lives in recent months have been linked to the protests.

Fellow students had been holding a vigil round the clock for Mr Chow as doctors battled to save his life. Sources said doctors had performed two surgeries in a bid to reduce swelling in his brain.

Protesters have alleged that Mr Chow fell because he was forced to climb onto the ledge of the multi-storey car park to escape multiple teargas rounds fired into the building by police.

Police officials acknowledge teargas had been used to disperse protesters near the car park, but say there was only a small amount of gas in the air when paramedics found Mr Chow. They have also denied interfering with rescuers treating the student, or blocking the ambulance that took him to hospital.

The city has been shaken by increasingly violent protests, which have morphed into calls for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability.

AFP