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LAU YING KIT

Putonghua teacher Lau Yin was always the adventurous sort, an avid mountain climber on the mainland who conquered peaks including the 3,000 metre high Mt Emei in Sichuan province before relocating to Hong Kong around 2000.
Even though Lau had returned safe and sound from each hike, her former husband worried for years that something untoward might befall her.
"It did happen at last," the grieving man, who gave only his surname, Shek, said yesterday.
On Sunday, Lau, 45, was sucked into the sea by waves while climbing rocks on the Yin Tsz Ngam coast near Tai Long Wan in Sai Kung East Country Park.
By the time marine police pulled her from the choppy waters and had her airlifted to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan, she was beyond medical help.
Lau's death was the second hiking tragedy in just over a week.
On January 18, Cheung Wing-on, 60, a retired businessman, slipped and fell some 60 metres to his death from a cliff on Lantau Island while trying to rescue another hiker, who was stranded along the Nei Shan Stream trail.
The stranded hiker was eventually rescued uninjured.
The route is listed as one of the most difficult of the city's "stream" hikes and was the scene of at least two previous fatalities.
In the latest misadventure, Lau reportedly put on gloves and began climbing with her back to the sea when she was knocked off her feet by a sudden wave at about 2.20pm.
Her three hiking companions waved a red flag for help and tried to call police, but their location was poorly covered by the telecommunications network.
Boats in the area noticed their distress but could not approach because the waves were rough. One called the police instead.
Lau was finally lifted from the sea, but paramedics failed to revive her along the way and she was certified dead at the hospital.
Lau and Shek's son said his mother had taken safety equipment with her and told him where she was going before setting off.
Shek said his former wife started exploring Hong Kong's countryside on an almost weekly basis after meeting like-minded hikers on the internet.
"When she told me a few months ago that she was going to climb cliffs with her friends, I felt uneasy," a weeping Shek said.
A government website about safe hiking suggests that people assess the risks carefully to avoid accidents.
It advises walkers to stick to maintained trails and not to walk along natural watercourses.
"Use sound judgment and acquired skills, and work closely with your companions, for maximum safety," the website says.
"Very few hiking accidents are the result of 'bad luck'. Most result from poor judgment, ignoring the land or weather conditions, taking shortcuts, behaving hastily or taking risks."


'I feared for her safety': daredevil teacher is second hiker to die in Hong Kong in a week

Avid climber Lau Yin.

Lau Yin died after she fell into the sea while climbing a cliff near Tai Long Wan in Sai Kung. Photo: Joyee Chan

Second Hong Kong hiker dies in a week as woman, 45, is swept off rocks in Sai Kung

News

Hong Kong

Grieving former husband tells how he often worried for the safety of daredevil teacher who died after being sucked into the sea on Sunday


Putonghua teacher Lau Yin was sucked into the sea by waves while climbing rocks on the Yin Tsz Ngam coast near Tai Long Wan in Sai Kung East Country Park.
