Helicopters swoop in amid dramatic rescue of mainland Chinese tourist from Hong Kong cliff edge on The Peak
All-night operation mounted in search of hiker who "lost his way" after ride up Mid-Levels escalators
Rescue helicopters swooped in to help an injured and “lost” mainland tourist hanging precariously off a cliff edge on The Peak last night.
An all-night operation in search of the hiker began at 5pm and ended after 2am this morning.
The tourist refused hospital treatment, and walked away from the scene after being rescued and led to Po Shan Road in the Mid-Levels.
DON'T MISS: Chinese man arrested after HSBC Asia chief reports theft of HK$2.45m from luxury Hong Kong home on The Peak
“We received the call for the special service at 5.14pm last night, so we deployed fire engines and an ambulance,” a spokesman for the Fire Services Department said.
"The male hiker refused to go to hospital, so we ended the operation at 2.04am when the hiker reached the road level"
“The male hiker refused to go to hospital, so we ended the operation at 2.04am when the hiker reached the road level.”
The spokesman said the department did not know who had made the call requesting help.
The rescue team consisted of two fire engines and one ambulance that arrived at the scene at 5.21pm last night. Two Government Flying Service helicopters were deployed along with one team from the Civil Aid Service to climb to the hiker’s position.
A police spokeswoman said the 27-year-old tourist, surnamed Yu and holding a two-way permit, called police at 5.24pm saying he had made his way from Central up to The Peak but lost his way.
“He told police he took the escalator system from Central to the Mid-Levels and walked about 30 minutes before he lost the way,” police said. “He claimed he tripped and fell to the ground, sustaining leg injuries.”