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Clifford Lo

Death in Mongkok comes days after warning of growing  abuse among  children

A 13-year-old girl collapsed and died  yesterday after allegedly taking a mixture of  Ecstasy and ketamine while at a disco in Mongkok.

The death of Chek Wai-yin came just two days after the release of research findings by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service that showed youngsters start taking recreational drugs as  early as nine.

Wai-yin  went to a disco in Mongkok Road with a 20-year-old female friend shortly before 1am, said  police. Before dawn, she complained of  dizziness and left the  disco with her friend, taking a rest outside a public toilet in Mongkok Road.

'The pair then walked to Canton Road, Mongkok, where they took a rest again. The girl subsequently collapsed there and her friend called police at 6.15am,' a police spokesman said.

The girl was declared dead before arrival at Kwong Wah Hospital.

'Initial investigations showed that she did indeed take some recreational drug at the disco,' a police source said.

The source added it appeared to be a mixture of ketamine and Ecstasy but it was not known how much of the drugs the girl had taken. Detectives are trying to  establish where  she got the drugs.

A postmortem examination will be conducted today.

'I hope this tragic incident can send a strong message to young people that drugs not only harm their health but can kill them,' said the head of the Customs Drug  Investigation Bureau, Ben Leung Lun-cheung.

During the summer holidays, customs officers have stepped up  border vigil  to stop drugs from being smuggled into the city and also boosted  intelligence exchange with counterparts on the mainland and in other countries, he said.

Social workers called for tougher laws to penalise disco operators, saying  discos had become a haunt of young drug abusers.

'They have become a hotbed of the drug problem. The operators could not have been unaware of the problem,' said Chan Chi-sing, an outreach social worker. 'When they spot policemen approaching, they sound an alarm and ask  under-age clients to flee.'

Mr Chan said the problem of youngsters taking drugs had become more serious in recent years.

Official figures showed the number of reported drug abusers in the first quarter of the year fell by 8.5 per cent compared with the same period last year - from 4,992 to 4,566. But there was a 15 per cent rise in the number of under-21 abusers, from 749 to 861.

The most commonly abused drugs were ketamine and Ecstasy.

Ivy Chan Kin-yi, head of  the Centre for Psychotropic Substance Abusers,  said: 'They like to take drugs at discos. We also understand that many discos sell wine to under-age people. Police should step up raids and tougher laws should be in place.'

Choi Yuen-wan, chairman of the Action Committee Against Narcotics, said   the group heard many young abusers liked to take party drugs  with wine. Dr Choi vowed to step up publicity against soft drugs.



Girl, 13, dies after taking drugs at disco