Man’s attempt to retrieve wallet from Hong Kong sewer turns into fatal accident
- The 63-year-old removed manhole cover and tried to get his wallet but fell in head first
- Incident was caught on closed-circuit television, police say there was nothing suspicious about the case
A man died when he accidentally fell into a manhole two metres deep (6½ feet) in Hong Kong while trying to retrieve his wallet early on Tuesday morning.
A security guard reported the incident to police at 4.15am. He found a 63-year-old lying in the manhole close to Hoi Shing House of Hoi Tat Estate, a new public housing property in Cheung Sha Wan.
Police checked the closed-circuit television footage and found the man had tried to retrieve his wallet from the manhole, but lost his balance and fell at around 1am.
It was reported that the man lifted the two 1.5 sq ft pieces of the cover by himself before falling in, and was later found upside down in the manhole by the security guard who passed by.
The Fire Services Department sent two fire engines and an ambulance to the scene. The Thai national, holding a Hong Kong identity card, was sent to the Caritas Medical Centre where he was certified dead.
Police were seen to have cleared the sewage in the hole and salvaged a black wallet.
Media reports suggested that the victim’s head was submerged in sewage when he was found. The cause of death will be determined by an autopsy.
The force found nothing suspicious about the case. It will be followed up by the miscellaneous inquiries sub-unit.
Last December, two workers died after falling into a sewer at the airport in Chek Lap Kok. Police suspected that they were cleaning and inspecting the manhole, when it discharged an “unknown gas” before they fell in.
