Inquest into death of Chow Tsz-lok begins

The father of a university student who died following an anti-government protest in Tseung Kwan O last year has told an inquest that his son had messaged him just moments before he was found lying seriously injured in a carpark.

Chow Tsz-lok, 22, suffered massive head injuries and was left in a coma. He died in hospital four days after the incident after undergoing operations on his brain.

As the inquest began on Monday, Chow's father told the Coroner's Court that his son, who was a computer science student at the University of Science and Technology, had left home late on November 3 wearing a black T-shirt and carrying a backpack.

He said he had told his son to be careful but got no reply, explaining to the court that he made his warning after seeing on the news that there were protesters and police at Sheung Tak Estate near their home.

The father said at 12.46am on November 4 he messaged his son telling him that tear gas rounds had been fired. Two minutes later, his son replied, telling him to close the windows.

Chow Tsz-lok was last seen online at around 1am, his father said. An hour later friends of Chow came knocking on the door to say he had been injured in a fall.

The father described his son as a quiet person and while he felt like the 22-year-old didn't always like talking to him, their relationship was not bad.

He said they will travel and celebrate their birthdays together.

A model was also displayed in court showing part of the carpark which is related to Chow’s death.

The father pointed out the route where they usually use, saying the location where Chow fell was seldomly visited by their family. Before the incident, he does not know there are two levels for the second floor.

Speculation was rife at the time of the student's death that he had fallen from one floor of the carpark to another, possibly while trying to escape police tear gas or while running away from riot officers.

The police released images from CCTV which they said showed him wandering around the carpark, and while they confirmed tear gas had been fired outside, they said no officers were in the carpark when Chow Tsz-lok suffered his injuries.

Two men and three women form the jury for the inquest which is expected to last 25 days, with 40 witnesses to be summoned in total.-RTHK/The Standard