AN elderly man, injured during a quarrel over a delay in closing a lift door, died about three weeks later of broncho-pneumonia, an inquest heard yesterday. A coroner's jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure on Wong Wai-on, 63, who died on July 19 last year. Mr Wong had told a police officer he was kicked by someone in a lift and fell down. Coroner Rodney Venning praised 13-year-old Yeung Nga-yin, who was the only one among seven people in the lift to assist Wong. She also summoned the police. Nga-yin said she entered a lift with the others at Lok Man Estate, Hunghom, on June 24 last year. The last few people to get in were a man and two women. The man had asked Wong to close the lift door. Nga-yin said she then heard an exchange of words between the two men, but could not recall the argument. She said she saw Wong push the man and believed he was unhappy at being told to shut the door. When the lift arrived at the eighth floor, everyone got out, including Wong, who immediately slumped to the floor outside and swore at the other man. She identified that man as Chan Kin-chung, who had paused to look at Wong before walking off. Nga-yin said Wong was bleeding from the hands and leg and was clutching a broken bottle of Chinese wine. She did not know how the bottle broke. She said Wong did not appear drunk and did not smell of liquor. Wong then gave her the key to his flat and asked her to get his wallet, which she did. She stayed with him until the police came. Mr Chan, 36, a car park attendant, said that after he and his family got into the lift he had told Wong, who was holding the ''open'' button, to release it. He said Wong then shouted at him. Mr Chan ignored Wong and turned to his family and said: ''He is drunk.'' He felt a push on his shoulder and turned around to see Wong about to strike him with his bottle of wine, the court heard. But Mr Chan said he managed to ward Wong off by pushing him away. He denied having kicked Wong. At Queen Elizabeth hospital, Wong was found to have suffered a fractured leg and underwent surgery. He died about three weeks later of broncho-pneumonia. Dr Ho Siu-fai said the fracture was consistent with a fall rather than an impact on the leg. In summing up, Mr Venning asked the jury to consider verdicts of death by natural cause, accident, misadventure or open. He said, because there was no evidence of unlawful killing, that verdict was not available to jurors.
