Man drowns after jumping into Hong Kong’s Shing Mun River

An elderly man was suspected to have lost his footing and drowned while trying to catch fish in Hong Kong’s Shing Mun River on Sunday.

A passer-by spotted the man, who was in his seventies, floating in the river near the intersection of Tai Chung Kiu Road and Siu Lek Yuen Road in Sha Tin at about 3.50pm.

Emergency personnel arrived at the scene and retrieved the man, who was unconscious.

He was rushed to the nearby Prince of Wales Hospital but later pronounced dead.

Police found a pair of shoes and a towel believed to belong to the man under a bridge on the river.

Preliminary findings suggested the man might have lost his footing while trying to catch fish along the riverbank, but the cause of his fall remains under investigation.