Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2171734/sister-yammie-lam-visits-morgue-identify-late-hong-kong
Hong Kong/ Law and Crime

Sister of Yammie Lam visits morgue to identify the late Hong Kong TV star’s body

  • Deceased actress was found dead at her home early on Saturday morning
  • Police do not suspect foul play
Yammie Lam Kit-ying in the 1995 film A Chinese Odyssey. Photo: Handout

The sister of deceased TVB actress Yammie Lam Kit-ying visited the Victoria Public Mortuary Monday morning to claim the body of the late star, who was found dead at her home in Stanley in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The 55-year-old celebrity was known for her beauty in her heyday and rose to fame in the late 1980s, after appearing in television series such as Looking Back in Anger and The Greed of Man, which starred Adam Cheng Siu-chow and Sean Lau Ching-wan.

At around 8.45am, her sister, Lam Kit-hing, wearing sunglasses, a mask and a grey windbreaker, arrived at the mortuary in Kennedy Town with four other people.

After briefly speaking to the mortuary official at the reception, the group were seen sitting in the lobby.

Lam and the others were silent during the visit and did not respond to reporters’ questions.

An hour and a half later, they left and took a taxi in the direction of Admiralty.

The sister of former TVB actress Yammie Lam Kit-ying arrives at Victoria Public Mortuary in Kennedy Town on Monday morning, accompanied by relatives. Lam was found dead in her home in Stanley early on Saturday morning. Photo: Edmond So
The sister of former TVB actress Yammie Lam Kit-ying arrives at Victoria Public Mortuary in Kennedy Town on Monday morning, accompanied by relatives. Lam was found dead in her home in Stanley early on Saturday morning. Photo: Edmond So

Even though the initial investigation showed that Yammie Lam collapsed in the bathroom without any suspicious causes, forensic pathologists will still conduct an autopsy to look for the cause of death Police source

A police source said Lam Kit-hing signed documents confirming the deceased woman was her young sister Yammie Lam and that the coroner would conduct an autopsy on Tuesday to establish the cause of death, in the absence of any recent medical history.

“In normal circumstances or as a standard procedure, when someone dies suddenly or of natural causes, if family members can briefly describe the deceased’s health condition before their death, they can collect the dead body for disposal without any autopsy being needed. Or the family can sign for no autopsy,” the source said.

“But Lam Kit-hing has apparently had no contact with her deceased sister. Even though the initial investigation showed that Yammie Lam collapsed in the bathroom without any suspicious causes, forensic pathologists will still conduct an autopsy to look for the cause of death.”

Meanwhile, Yammie Lam’s fan club issued a statement on Sunday, condemning fraudsters for creating a fake crowdfunding page attempting to con others into raising money for Lam’s family.

It said, “we have no plans at the moment to launch any fundraising activities”.

The group then announced it had set up a new WeChat group and urged fans to join for its latest development.

Ma Hang Estate in Stanley, where Yammie Lam was found dead at her home on Saturday morning. Photo: Fung Chang
Ma Hang Estate in Stanley, where Yammie Lam was found dead at her home on Saturday morning. Photo: Fung Chang

On Saturday, the police said that initial investigations found no evidence of foul play.

A senior police source told the Post that her body had no apparent wounds but was in a state of decomposition by the time officers discovered it inside the flat in Leung Ma House at Ma Hang Estate. The deceased had last been seen, by her neighbour, on Wednesday.

Lam began her career in Hong Kong television after graduating from TVB’s acting course in 1983 at the age of 20. She later moved into films and she won the hearts of audiences with her turn as Spider Woman in the 1995 two-part fantasy film A Chinese Odyssey, starring comedian Stephen Chow Sing-chi.

Lam gradually left acting after a car crash in 1998 left her with injuries to her hands and neck, greatly affecting her physical and mental health. She made headlines again in 2013 when she revealed she had been raped on two separate occasions decades previously by two unnamed major figures in the local entertainment industry.

Additional reporting by Christy Leung