CityU professor dies after jumping on to East Rail Line tracks

Wallis Wang

A 59-year-old professor from City University's Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering died after jumping onto the rail tracks at Kowloon Tong Station yesterday.

According to sources, the professor, surnamed Li, had been undergoing treatment for depression and had recently told his wife he was feeling stressed at work.

Li left his home in Tai Kok Tsui for work at 9am yesterday, and later informed his wife via WhatsApp that he had left his wallet in a taxi and would be staying at Kowloon Tong station.

The university expressed deep sorrow over the loss, stating that they are investigating the incident and will reach out to Li's family to provide appropriate assistance.

"The university is saddened by this tragic incident and extends our heartfelt condolences to the professor's family," the university said.

The incident occurred at around 12.37pm, when Li entered the track area as an East Rail Line train heading to Admiralty was approaching platform 2.

The train captain immediately initiated an emergency stop, and other staff worked to halt other trains from entering the station.

Emergency responders rushed to the scene but were unable to save Li, who was pronounced dead at the site.

The East Rail Line service between Mong Kok East and Tai Wai stations was temporarily suspended due to the incident, and the MTR Corporation arranged for free shuttle buses to transport passengers between the affected stations until normal service resumed around 1.30pm.

Kowloon Tong station - along with several other East Rail Line stations - is currently undergoing the installation of automatic platform gates, a safety measure intended to prevent such tragic incidents.

The platform for trains heading to Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau have already been equipped with gates, but the platform where the incident occurred was still in the process of having gates installed.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com