Forensic pathologist unable to conclude Chan Yin-lam death was by drowning

A forensic pathologist told the Chan Yin-lam inquiry by the Coroner's Court that he could not conclude Chan’s death was caused by drowning.

On the eighth day of the inquest, forensic pathologist Philip Beh Swan-lip testified that Chan’s autopsy result is strange and hard to explain.

“People who were normally drowned to death will have both their lungs filled with the same amount of water, as well as in the stomach, but Chan’s results showed that only the left lung matches such a description for drowning,” he said.

Beh also told in court that he could only determine Chan’s body was submerged in water, but is not conclusive that she was drowned to death.

He also said that the weight of the lungs does not match the description of drowning, therefore could infer that Chan did not intake a large amount of water before she died.