Heat-stroke hiker dies in hospital after 13-hour rescue in Sai Kung

A 56-year-old hiker died in the hospital on Monday (June 24) after he was found in a 13-hour rescue when he got lost during a hike near Lobster Bay in Sai Kung.

The man, surnamed Tsang, was declared dead at 7.25 pm on Monday in Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital. 

His family were devastated by the news but were still grateful to all rescuers for their efforts.

Tsang was a cash escort guard and used to go hiking on Sundays. He left his home in Kwong Ming Court in Tseung Kwan O alone at 7.35am on Sunday (Jun 23) to hike on the Lobster Bay country trail.

Tsang told his family that he would return home between 2pm and 3pm.

However, he lost contact shortly after sending a message to his friend through WhatsApp at around 1.30pm, saying that he had a heat stroke.

Tsang's WhatsApp has also shown offline status since then, and his children could not locate him through his phone's GPS because the battery was depleted.

The family posted an appeal on social media platforms, and Tsang's wife reported him missing to the police at around 7pm on Sunday.

After 13 hours of a massive air-and-land search, rescuers found Tsang in bushes near a spot known as "Blade Ridge" at around 10.30 am on Monday.

He was unconscious with signs of heatstroke and had multiple bruises at that time and was airlifted to the hospital, where he was declared dead hours later.