Hiker climbing Hong Kong’s highest peak missing since Thursday; mercury falls below freezing as emergency services mount search
- Police receive call for help on Thursday afternoon from man who says he can no longer continue hiking on Tai Mo Shan because of the cold weather
- Search will resume on Saturday morning; temperatures in area dropped to minus 1.6 degrees Celsius early on Friday
A hiker climbing Hong Kong’s highest peak has been missing since Thursday afternoon after calling police for help, with temperatures on the mountain falling below freezing.
Police on Friday morning said they had received the call at around 4pm the day before from a Mandarin-speaking man, who said he was hiking on Tai Mo Shan but could no longer continue because of the cold weather.
Emergency services launched a search and rescue operation involving 40 officers from the police force, Fire Services Department, Government Flying Service and Civil Aid Service. But the man was still missing as of Friday night, police said.
The search will resume on Saturday morning.
The Transport Department announced at around 9am that “due to [an] emergency incident, all vehicles cannot enter Tai Mo Shan Road via Route Twisk”.
According to the Hong Kong Observatory, an intense winter monsoon and a band of clouds covering the coast of Guangdong province have brought the coldest temperatures of the season so far.