Hong Kong boy, 4, dies after being given herbal medicine pills; mother arrested

A four-year-old Hong Kong boy has died after being given herbal medicine, with his mother arrested for child neglect.

The boy’s mother, 36, and her husband alerted authorities at around 12pm on Sunday after she found her son passed out in their flat in Lucky Building on San Ma Tau Street, Hung Hom.

An ambulance took the unconscious boy to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, where he died at around 7.30pm.

A police source said the boy had taken two herbal pills at around 11am. The medicine was brought in from mainland China without a prescription.

The boy had a history of breathing issues.

Police arrested the mother on suspicion of ill-treatment or neglect of a child.