Body of missing solo hiker found in Hong Kong country park, 17 days after losing contact with family
- Body of Ning Kwok-leung, 57, found in dense jungle between Wong Chuk Shan and Mau Ping in Ma On Shan Country Park
- Discovery made about 1.5km northeast of West Buffalo Hill, where Ning had told his family he would be hiking
Rescuers have discovered the body of a man who went missing while hiking alone in an eastern Hong Kong country park, 17 days after he last contacted his family.
Members of the Fire Services Department found the body in dense jungle between Wong Chuk Shan and Mau Ping in Ma On Shan Country Park at around noon on Tuesday.
Police said they had confirmed it was the body of Ning Kwok-leung, 57, who set out for a walk alone on August 23. His home return permit, a document issued for cross-border travel, was found on him.
The discovery was made about 1.5km (0.9 miles) northeast of West Buffalo Hill, also known as Wong Ngau Shan, and where Ning had told his family he would be hiking.
But he did not return to his home in Wong Tai Sin and his family reported him missing the same day.
The Civil Aid Service, fire services and police launched a search effort around West Buffalo Hill the next day. Members of the Countryside Volunteer Search Team and the Hong Kong Guardians, another voluntary group, also scoured the area for signs of him.
At one point, authorities had deployed nearly 150 personnel in the search effort.
Ning called his family on the morning of August 26, saying he was in poor physical condition, unable to stand and needed water. He also told them his mobile phone battery was running low and he was unable to give his exact location, according to one of the volunteer search groups.
On August 27, one of the volunteer groups said leads indicated Ning might be in the area between Mui Tsz Lam and Nui Po Au, north of West Buffalo Hill.
The next day, members of a search team found a glove in deep overgrowth in the Wong Chuk Shan area of the country park, northeast of the hill. The family believed the glove likely belonged to Ning, according to the Countryside Volunteer Search Team.
It also posted a selfie Ning took on top of West Buffalo Hill at 4.26pm on the day he started the hike.
Anson Cheng, a spokesman for Hong Kong Guardians, described sadness and disappointment over the news that Ning’s body had been found.
“The final outcome is not a happy one,” he said. “My emotions are contradictory. On one hand, the case can now be closed, and Ning can finally come down from the hill. But on the other hand, despite our team’s efforts, we were unable to bring a living person back down.”
He said his teammates had never given up hope of finding Ning, regardless of the extreme weather over the past few weeks, including the onslaught of Super Typhoon Saola and the city’s worst downpour in over a century last week.
