Family looks to bring body home
Relatives of a Hong Kong woman killed in Lhasa on Wednesday left for Tibet yesterday.
It is understood the family will be allowed to bring the body back to Hong Kong next week for funeral arrangements, but this has yet to be confirmed by mainland authorities.
Under Tibetan custom, the dead are normally cremated before the ashes are allowed to leave the region.
Cheung Hai-yan was killed when a jeep she was riding in overturned and rolled down a 20-metre slope. Her husband Fong Yun-nang - an RTHK journalist - and two other passengers in the vehicle were injured.
A spokeswoman for Modern China Travel, which organised the tour package, said the relatives and representatives from the travel agency, left for Tibet yesterday morning.
The spokeswoman added that it was not known when the group would return to Hong Kong.
'It is also not certain that they will be allowed to return Ms Cheung's body to Hong Kong intact because it is very rare for that to be allowed,' she said.
An RTHK spokeswoman said that the broadcaster had asked for the help of Hong Kong and mainland authorities regarding the issue.
'No time has been fixed for his [Mr Fong's] return to Hong Kong, or to work. It's something that is out of our control,' she said.
Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung said the council had asked for a full report from the travel agency regarding the incident.
Mr Tung said he understood the rest of the tour group's 15 members would continue with their holiday in Tibet.
