Emergency responders mounted a joint effort to rescue a 77-year-old man who fell out of a flat window while putting up laundry and was left hanging upside down for nearly half an hour in Hong Kong on Friday.
Police were alerted at 3.13pm by a resident of Tsui Lau House in Tsui Ping North Estate, who heard a man crying for help while hanging out of the window with a foot caught on the laundry rack.
Officers said the caller rushed to the man’s aid, holding his right foot while waiting for emergency personnel.
The man, who was conscious, suffered injuries to his feet, nose and mouth, and was sent to United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong.
The man was believed to have accidentally fallen out of the window of his flat while hanging laundry, according to police. It was not immediately known which floor the man was on when he fell.
Another resident who assisted in Ma’s rescue told the media that he found the man hanging upside down from his window after hearing cries for help, while the person who was holding the man’s foot at the time was also shouting for assistance.
“I ran up to help and held him for 20 to 25 minutes,” the resident said. “He called for help for at least 10 minutes before someone called police.”
Last month, a 99-year-old woman fell to her death while hanging laundry from a window of her 19th-floor flat in Tung Chun Court in Shau Kei Wan.
A preliminary police investigation found she was likely to have been doing household chores when she slipped and fell out of the window. She was believed to have been hanging laundry at the time.
Authorities previously released safety promotional material reminding the public to be careful when cleaning windows or hanging laundry.
