17-year-old Hong Kong student found alive after missing for a week

Matthew Tsang Hin-chit, the 17-year-old teen who was missing for a week, was found alive by rescue teams at Ma On-shan Country Park on Wednesday. 

Firefighters found the Diocesan Boys’ School’s pupil in a bush near Lo Shue Tin Hang in Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon. Tsang was found unclothed but was not injured. Firefighters also gave him a bottle of energy drink. According to the police, no suspicious circumstances were detected.

He was conscious while being taken to the Eastern Hospital for further treatment.

Chow Cheuk-fung, the station commander of Sha Tin Fire Station, said in a press briefing that the rescue teams, including the Mountain Search team and other supporting forces, had mobilised 28 fire trucks, and nine ambulances, with 122 firefighters and 24 ambulance men.

Cheung Tin-yu, senior station officer, said in the same briefing that the search had covered 28.8 square kilometres, adding that the rescue team even faced immense obstacles due to the limited information and extreme weather conditions, such as the Black rainstorm signal and typhoon Koinu that hit the city. 

“The rescue team did not know the exact route Tsang had headed, as he did not carry any communication devices, so they could not track his location,” Cheung said. “The terrain was dangerous, and we have been facing Typhoon Koinu and rainstorms in the last week.” 

The station officer also said the results team used technology like drones for taking pictures, and that the photos were analyzed by artificial intelligence to narrow down the search areas.

Amy Chan, the rescued pupil’s mother, expressed gratitude on social media after realizing that her son was found alive.

“Although it had been eight days, No. 9 Increasing Gale or Storm signal and black rainstorm signal, we never give up, and it was a miracle that my son is alive,” Chan said in another press briefing after Tsang was rescued.

Tsang went missing last Wednesday after leaving school at noon. He was seen exiting from Shek Mun MTR station in the New Territories before missing. His family made a report to the police on the same day.

According to Chan, the boy was wearing his school uniform before missing, leaving his mobile phone at school and taking only a wallet.

Chan also told reporters earlier that her son was recently facing academic pressure.