Update | Waterfall thrill seeker swept away by flood rescued with 14 others stranded in Hong Kong country park
Sixteen people helped by rescuers after torrential rain hits New Territories
A group of thrill-seeking watersports enthusiasts and stranded hikers were rescued late last night after a day out in the New Territories almost turned to tragedy when a “wall of water” triggered by a flash flood crashed down on a couple as they abseiled down a waterfall.
The flash flood came after torrential rain lashed parts of Hong Kong yesterday, turning normally sedate hillside streams into raging torrents. A brother and sister were using ropes to “canyon” down a waterfall on one of them along Nam Chung country trail in Tai Po.
A witness told the Post last night that the pair – Mark Delecate, a Thai-German Hong Kong resident and his sister who was visiting from Germany – were seen “hanging on to their ropes for dear life’’ before disappearing from the site.
Their friends then called police to say they feared the pair had been swept away and may have died in the torrent of water. The call sparked a major search-and-rescue effort lasting almost seven hours, ending last night when the couple and the group they were with, plus other hikers stranded by the weather, were brought to safety.
Hours after being assumed dead, Delecate recorded a video describing what happened.