Twelve hikers died in country parks last year - up from six in 2021 and two in 2020 - and many of them lost their lives at Sai Kung East and Lantau South, says Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan.
Hiking has become a popular weekend activity due to the social distancing measures and Covid travel restrictions in the past three years.
Tse - responding to a question by Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong lawmaker Gary Chan Hak-kan - said 329 hikers were injured last year, up from 282 in 2021 and 125 the year before.
About 600 search-and-rescue requests were made last year, compared with 588 in 2021 and 328 in 2020.
Emergency personnel from the Fire Services Department, with support from police, the Government Flying Service and the Civil Aid Service, were deployed 1,014 times last year, with each search lasting 49.6 hours on average.
Of the 20 hikers who died in the past three years, five visited Sai Kung East Country Park and four went to the Lantau South Country Park.
The Pat Sin Leng Country Park recorded one death for three years in a row.
The Lantau South Country Park saw 61 injuries last year, the highest among all country parks. The Sai Kung East Country Park had 55, Ma On Shan Country Park 33 and Tai Lam Country Park 32.
Authorities advised people to check the "Enjoy Hiking" mobile app launched by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in 2010 for maps and information on hiking trails so they can choose suitable routes and plan itineraries, Tse said.
The app had been downloaded more than 450,000 times by the end of last year. It also comes with a location-tracking service to allow authorities to locate hikers in case of emergency.
After being activated by hikers, the tracking service will automatically store hikers' location records, Tse said.
"In case of accidents, search-and-rescue personnel could trace the location of the missing persons by making use of their mobile phone numbers, enhancing the efficiency of mountain search-and-rescue operations," he said.
"In the past three years, there were 33 search-and-rescue cases in which location information of the missing persons was obtained through the tracking service of the Enjoy Hiking app."
Climbing expert Chung Kin-man, founder of the Hong Kong Mountaineering Training Centre, told The Standard that the number of injuries and deaths surged mainly because more Hongkongers went hiking amid the pandemic.
"People could not travel overseas amid the pandemic and they wanted to go somewhere new and many of them chose to participate in outdoor activities such as hiking and camping," Chung said.
Hiking in Hong Kong is relatively safe as there are no high mountains or drastic weather changes. But it is still dangerous for people who do not have a deep understanding of mountains and hiking, Chung said.
"It's common in Hong Kong accidents that hikers went hiking alone, which is dangerous because they cannot seek help when they are missing or fall off hills," he said.
Chung said many people rely on their phones in country parks but there may be no signal in mountains.
"In Hong Kong, the biggest enemy for hikers is the heat as people may suffer from heatstroke and heat exhaustion. It will be really dangerous if hikers do not bring enough water," Chung said.
wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com
