Hong Kong inquest avoids Covid-19 curbs with virtual reality recreation of site where student Alex Chow suffered fatal injuries

Probe into Chow’s death following Tseung Kwan O car park plunge is first court proceedings in Hong Kong to use the technology

Chow, 22, was found with fatal injuries at Sheung Tak Estate car park in November last year

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The use of visual reality technology at Alex Chow’s inquest is the first such deployment in city courts. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 6:45pm, 18 Dec 2020Updated: 6:56pm, 18 Dec 2020

An inquest into the death of a Hong Kong student who fell at a multi-storey car park has avoided jury site visits amid Covid-19 restrictions by recreating the scene using virtual reality, the city’s first courtroom deployment of the technology.

Jurors wearing VR glasses were presented on Friday with immersive, computer-generated images depicting the location of Alex Chow Tsz-lok’s fatal fall in Tseung Kwan O last November.

The Coroner’s Court had asked government forensic scientists to map out the interior of the car park using the state-of the-art technology, to avoid having to arrange a site visit for the five-member jury with social-distancing rules in place for the pandemic.

The Sheung Tak Estate car park where Chow suffered fatal injuries. Photo: Dickson Lee

Chow, a Hong Kong University of Science and Technology student, was believed to have fallen four metres to a lower floor at the Sheung Tak Estate car park early on November 4, 2019.

Police at the time were dispersing anti-government protesters at a nearby junction using tear gas and other anti-riot weapons. Chow died in hospital four days after the fall.

The 22-year-old was seen walking towards the car park’s third floor when he was last captured on security camera.