A 66-year-old man lost contact in the toilet of MTR Hung Hom Station last Wednesday evening. Hung Hom Station staff found him in an accessible toilet nearly four hours following receiving help from his family. The man died following being sent to hospital. Family members criticized the MTR staff for not trying their best to find people. If they were found early, they might have a chance to save a precious life. The MTR expresses its deep apology for the doubts caused by the incident, saying that it will conduct an internal investigation and install motion sensors in all accessible toilets.
66-year-old Xu Bo took the Tuen Ma Line from Ma On Shan Station to Long Ping Station with his wife last Wednesday (20th) followingnoon. At regarding 5 pm, Xu Bo got off at Hung Hom Station to go to the bathroom, and then lost contact. The family called the police at 5:48 p.m., but the police said at the time that the information was insufficient and Xu Yifei was a high-risk missing person. The family then called the MTR station at 6 o’clock for help, and described Xu Bo’s appearance in detail, and told the staff that he went to the toilet, but the staff replied twice that they had searched the toilets in the station and found nothing. At 6:36, another family member called the MTR once more to check the progress of the search. The MTR staff reiterated that they had searched the toilets in the station, and there was no accident at the station in the past 2 hours.
Hearing staff look elsewhere
The family members went to Hung Hom Station to search in person at around 7 p.m., but due to the complex environment of the station facilities, they did not search all the toilets. Some station staff told the family members that they had searched all the toilets in the station, and the station also broadcasted, and suggested that the family members expand the search area. The son of the deceased, Mr. Xu, said that he believed in the professionalism of the MTR staff and the method of crisis handling, so he went to the two nearby hospitals, Mong Kok East Station and Hung Hom Police Station for inquiries, but in the end he might not find anything.
At 10:32 p.m., the cleaners opened the toilet where the accident happened, only to find that Uncle Xu was lying inside, unconscious. At 11:03, the family received a notice from Queen Elizabeth Hospital that Xu Bo was receiving rescue, but at 11:42 the rescue failed and he was confirmed dead. Xu Bo’s son quoted the hospital as saying that if Xu Bo was sent to the hospital in time, his life might be saved.
The family members pointed out that they did not receive a call from the MTR to inform them of the incident until 12:01 in the morning. They criticized why they did not receive their notification until more than an hour following the incident, and described that they were not in the mood to talk to the relevant staff at that time. By the followingnoon of the next day, the family members called the MTR once more to ask for Lu Ji’s assistance. It was not until the 22nd (last Friday) that the family received the condolences from the MTR public relations.
Cause of death to be determined by autopsy
The family of the deceased met the media yesterday accompanied by district councillors. Uncle Xu’s wife cried bitterly and said, “We went to have tea together that day, but we lost him at night. It’s hard to accept, do you understand?” He said that he had searched the toilet and found nothing, and questioned that the MTR did not search carefully, which led to the loss of his father, and demanded an apology from the MTR and a thorough investigation of the incident. The family also pointed out that Xu did not suffer from long-term illness, and he often exercised and rode a bicycle, and an autopsy was required to determine the cause of death.
MTR: Internal investigation has been launched and will be dealt with seriously
Regarding the doubts caused by the handling on that day, the MTR said it understands and apologizes, and will save the CCTV footage as necessary to fully cooperate with the police investigation. In order to avoid similar incidents, more than 90 barrier-free toilets will be installed with motion sensors within 3 months. When the user does not move for a period of time, the sensor will send an alarm to the station. The MTR expresses that it attaches great importance to the incident and has launched an internal investigation, including reviewing the details following receiving the request, whether the staff strictly followed the guidelines and procedures, etc., and will handle it strictly, and will also maintain communication with family members and provide appropriate assistance.
Originally published on AM730 https://www.am730.com.hk/Local/Hung Hom Station Men’s Restroom Failed to Help Death-Family Approves Failure-MTR Apology-Sensors will be installed in disabled toilets across the line/330265
