Man drowns at Hong Kong beach that lifeguard union says lacked enough qualified personnel for life-saving emergencies
- The 56-year-old was unresponsive when emergency personnel found him two hours after he first went missing
- Numerous Hong Kong beaches run by the city currently have no lifeguards at all, a situation blamed on the coronavirus pandemic
A man drowned just yards from a Hong Kong beach on Thursday where a lack of lifeguards meant emergency personnel had to be called to help find him.
The 56-year-old went missing at about 12.44pm while swimming outside the shark net on Lantau Island’s Pui O beach, a police spokesman said. He was finally located more than two hours later, but could not be saved.
His death drew an angry response from the Hong Kong & Kowloon Lifeguards Union, which blamed the incident on a lack of skilled personnel.
“The chronic shortage of lifeguards on public beaches is putting swimmers in danger. We have long called for proper staffing in the government ranks, and it’s time officials heeded those calls,” Nick Wu Kai-wing, the group’s vice-chairman, said.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which is responsible for staffing 41 government beaches, said there were six lifeguards on duty to keep order and provide basic help, such as first aid.