Hong Kong medical expert casts doubt on pathologists’ claim that 15-year-old girl drowned

University of Hong Kong’s Philip Beh says he’s troubled by fact Chan Yin-lam was naked when discovered in waters off Tseung Kwan O

Expert points to absence of factors associated with drowning, during testimony at Coroner’s Court

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Teenager Chan Yin-lam was found dead at sea last September. Photo: Handout

Published: 3:21pm, 2 Sep 2020Updated: 10:23pm, 2 Sep 2020

A medical expert has rejected the suggestion from two government pathologists that a 15-year-old girl found dead at sea last year drowned, pointing to their failure to determine the teen’s time of death.

Philip Beh Swan-lip, principal clinical practitioner at the University of Hong Kong’s medical school, made his remarks at the Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, a day after the autopsy findings on Chan Yin-lam were revealed.

Chan’s body was found in the waters off Tseung Kwan O on September 22, three days after she was last seen by friends and caught on security cameras. Whether Chan, a self-taught diver, committed suicide by jumping into the sea remains unclear.

Two government pathologists who carried out the autopsy said they could not pinpoint the cause of death, but believed there was a “distinct possibility” she drowned herself, given the body lacked any apparent fatal injuries, and appeared to have been in the water for a substantial period.

Medical expert Philip Beh leaves West Kowloon Court after testifying on Wednesday. Photo: Brian Wong

But Beh challenged the accuracy of that finding, and said there were no signs Chan suffocated in the water based on the report, adding he was troubled by the fact the body was unclothed when it was discovered.