A seven-year-old boy on a Lunar New Year holiday visit from the mainland drowned in a septic tank yesterday while playing in a village in Lok Ma Chau.
The boy arrived in Hong Kong on a two-way permit last Thursday with his family, who planned to spend the holiday in the city.
He had been playing with his 10-year-old brother and a girl, aged five, at an uncle's house in Luk Mei Tsuen before slipping away on his own.
The two children later spotted his slipper floating on top of the septic tank and ran back to the house to raise the alarm.
Police believe he scaled a low wall surrounding the tank, climbed on top, then lost his balance. The septic tank was 3 metres deep and filled with human waste used as fertiliser for vegetation.
Police and firemen were sent to the scene to conduct a search and the boy was found in the tank 30 minutes later.