The discovery of a missing Hong Kong teenager alive and well in a country park marked the latest in a string of high-profile searches in recent years, although many of the others lost were less fortunate.
Firefighters found Matthew Tsang Hin-chit, 17, in bushes near Lo Shue Tin in Ma On Shan Country Park about 100 metres (328 feet) from a hiking track on Wednesday afternoon, ending a seven-day search. He was in a stable condition.
The Post looks back at some other major searches and their outcomes.
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Ning Kwok-leung
The case of Ning Kwok-leung, 57, sparked widespread interest as a super typhoon hit the city during his weeks-long disappearance.
Ning set out for a solo hike at West Buffalo Hill, or Wong Ngau Shan, in Ma On Shan Country Park on August 23, and was reported missing the same day by family after he failed to return home.
The number of people looking for Ning grew to more than 150 as volunteer groups, including the Countryside Volunteer Search Team and Hong Kong Guardians, joined in, before his body was found on September 12, 20 days after he was reported missing.
Ning managed to call his family on August 26, saying he was in poor condition, unable to stand and in need of water, and that the battery on his phone was about to run out. But he was unable to give his exact location.
Super Typhoon Saola, which triggered the first No 10 warning signal in five years, hit on September 1.
Body of missing solo hiker found in Hong Kong country park after massive search
Shou Fugang
Shou Fugang, the 59-year-old executive director and CEO of China Bocom Insurance, failed to show up for dinner with his niece on September 12, 2021, so she contacted one of his colleagues the next day. The pair entered his flat with a spare key to find it empty and a map of Sai Kung laid out on a table.
Upon investigation, Shou’s wife in Shanghai said he had texted her earlier that he had plans to go hiking, while security camera footage also showed him leaving his flat in hiking gear.
Missing Hong Kong banker’s body found in country park, police confirm
Shou, a former chairman of Bank of Communications (Hong Kong), was found dead five days later on a hillside near Mount Hallowes in Sai Kung Country Park. He had fractured legs and scratches on his body.
Police believed he fell down the hill and deemed his case as not suspicious.
Dawn Shek Lok-kiu
The case of Dawn Shek Lok-kiu made headlines partly because of her age and the circumstances of her disappearance in 2021, seen by some as suspicious.
The 24-year-old reportedly left her home in Nam Shan Estate, Shek Kip Mei, on April 15 without telling family members, who reported her missing two days later.
It was deduced that she had gone hiking at Kowloon Peak from her outfit as seen from security footage when she set out, and records from her personal computer.
Search and rescue mission finds missing Hong Kong hiker dead
Volunteer searchers found various articles of clothing, including hiking shoes, a hat, a backpack and a jacket around a rocky stretch of a trail dubbed “suicide cliff”.
Hours before her body was found, authorities confirmed the shoes and hat belonged to Shek, while her mobile phone’s last known signal was at a transmission station at Chiap King Industrial Building in San Po Kong.
She was eventually found near Kowloon Peak on the evening of April 18, and certified dead soon after.
Michael Gilbert
One of the more mysterious cases on the list, British tourist Michael Gilbert, 55, was visiting Hong Kong when he went missing in 2002.
Retiree Gilbert was in an eight-person tour group. On April 24, the hottest day so far that year at 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 Fahrenheit), he told two women in the group that he planned to go for a walk on Lantau Island.
Officers launched a search after the tour guide reported that Gilbert had failed to show up for his flight home, while his luggage and travel documents remained in a room at the Silvermine Beach Hotel in Mui Wo.
When a British tourist mysteriously vanished on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island
About a month later, Gilbert’s nephews who flew to Hong Kong to join the search said their uncle was “not a hiker” and his reported behaviour before his disappearance was “out of character”.
They also said he had told a friend before leaving London that he had plans to visit someone in Hong Kong.
Gilbert remains missing to this day.
Bosco Kwok Wai-nok
The case of 20-year-old Bosco Kwok Wai-nok took a grisly turn after it went from “missing hiker” to “murder” in 2017.
The air-conditioning trainee technician was an avid war gamer who went on a nighttime trip on May 27 with three acquaintances. They started off from Haven of Hope Hospital in Tseung Kwan O and headed towards Lam Tin’s Black Hill, where they planned to play war games.
Police initially searched for Kwok after the trio claimed he had to leave early at around 3.30am. They said he took a route he was not familiar with because he was in a rush. Kwok’s mother alerted police when he failed to return home by noon.
Authorities reclassified his case when they found his body on the morning of May 29 with injuries from a sharp object on his head, face and neck.
His three acquaintances were subsequently arrested. Two of the men were jailed for killing Kwok, while the third, accused of playing a facilitating role, was acquitted.
Final defendant in case of murdered Hong Kong war game enthusiast acquitted
Lucky survivors
While conditions can be rough, some do manage to survive after getting lost.
Police, firefighters and paramedics rescued a 16-year-old boy on Sunday night after he dialled 999 for help fearing he would lose his way in a country park.
As public transport was suspended on Sunday night as Typhoon Koinu struck, he decided to walk home from Diamond Hill MTR station to Hin Keng Estate, an 8.7km (5.4 miles) journey via Lion Rock Country Park.
The boy sought help from police at 10pm, and about an hour later, firefighters found him safe and well on the MacLehose Trail. He was delivered home at 12.20am on Monday.
Hong Kong boy rescued as he walks 8.7km home through country park during typhoon
In another case, a 62-year-old man was found safe on the Stanley Fort hillside on September 1, hours before Super Typhoon Saola triggered the No 8 signal. The man had left the infirmary ward at Cheshire Home, Chung Hom Kok without telling anyone, and only had some minor abrasions when he was discovered.
Back in 2017, Cheung Sau-kuen, then 47, was found by hikers on the Kei Lun Wai hillside on February 23, conscious but exhausted and unable to stand.
Cheung, who was reported missing on February 7, said she had gone 11 days without food and water. Authorities said she had no shoes, hiking gear or identity documents on her when she was found, while some abrasions had become inflamed and rotten. She reportedly had a history of mood disorders.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Drones and AI tools, over 300 people, 4 miles and 7 days: how Hong Kong rescuers combined grit and tech to find missing teen in area spanning nearly 1,900 football fields
- Hong Kong teen missing for week ‘ate leaves and drank stream water’ to survive while lost in Ma On Shan Country Park
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