Body of missing Hong Kong hiker, 52, found a day after she was swept away while swimming in country park stream
- Rescuers found the body of Yeung Pik-ying trapped between rocks in Wang Chung Stream in Pat Sin Leng Country Park
- She had gone hiking with a partner amid worsening weather on Wednesday
Firefighters have found the body of a 52-year-old hiker who went missing after being swept away by a flash flood while swimming in a Hong Kong country park.
They found the body of Yeung Pik-ying trapped between rocks in Wang Chung Stream in Pat Sin Leng Country Park at about 8.30am on Thursday.
The site in Tai Po is about a 30-minute walk from the Dragon Ball Waterfall area of the stream, where she was washed away while swimming on Wednesday as a red rainstorm warning was in force, according to a law enforcement source.
He said the body was later airlifted to the main dam of Plover Cove Reservoir, where relatives confirmed her identity.
The source said no suspicious wounds were found on the woman’s body and an autopsy was likely to be carried out to ascertain the cause of death.
Yeung and her friend – a 61-year-old man – had set off from Bride’s Pool Road at about 9.30am on Wednesday to hike along the stream, 15 minutes before the Observatory issued an amber rainstorm warning. It was raised to red at 10.45am.
The forecaster had warned that heavy rain might cause flash floods and people should stay away from watercourses.
The source said the pair changed into swimming outfits and went for a dip at the waterfall area. The man took a video of Yeung while she was swimming.
At about 12.30pm, a flash flood occurred in the stream and swept the woman away. Authorities launched an air-and-land search in the country park after Yeung’s hiking partner called police at 12.39pm.
Figures from the Fire Services Department show there were eight hiking-related fatalities in the first four months of this year. The number of hiking deaths rose to 14 last year from 11 in 2020.
Injuries in hiking-related cases reached 297 between January and April this year, according to the department. The number of people injured in hiking-related cases increased to 608 in 2021 from 323 in the year before.
In the first four months of this year, the department carried out 334 hiking-related rescue operations. There were 951 such operations last year and 602 in 2020.
