A 70-year-old man succumbed to injuries he sustained in a confrontation between anti-government protesters and residents of a border town on Wednesday.
The man, one of three people critically injured, was struck in the head with a brick during the clash outside the Sheung Shui MTR station in New Territories.
A video of the altercation shows two groups of people picking up bricks and throwing them at each other.
As seen in the footage, the man immediately fell to the ground on his back after being hit upfront.
A spokesperson from Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin confirmed that the man had died on Thursday night.
A number of suspects have already been identified for striking the man, who appeared to be taking photos at the time.
“Video footage shows he was only taking pictures at the scene,” Senior Superintendent Kelvin Kong Wing-cheung of the Hong Kong Police Public Relations Branch said, according to the South China Morning Post.
However, the man was also clearing barricades set up in the area, according to Chinese state-owned CGTN.
The man, an outsourced worker at the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), was on a lunch break at the time of the incident.
The Hong Kong government “expresses outrage over the malicious acts of the rioters and emphasizes that police will follow up the case thoroughly to bring offenders to justice,” an official statement said. “Masked rioters conducted extremely dangerous and violent acts in various districts three days in a row, where they wantonly assaulted other members of the public. The acts are outrageous.”
The unidentified 70-year-old is the second person to die amid escalating protests in the city.
On Nov. 8, 22-year-old Alex Chow passed away due to head injuries sustained during a fall as protesters and police clashed inside a car park.
Two young protesters were shot by police at point-blank range on Monday, with one losing his right kidney and part of his liver.
Later on the same day, a man who ended up in a confrontation with protesters was doused in a flammable liquid and set on fire, sustaining critical injuries as a result.
On Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an end to the “radical” protests, stating that “stopping the violence and restoring order” is Hong Kong’s “most urgent task,” CNN reported.
Xi vowed to support the city’s police force and its chief executive officer Carrie Lam in “severely punishing the violent criminals in accordance with the law.”
Feature Image Screenshots via Speakout 港人講地
