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Hong Kong protests: 22-yr-old student who fell from building during clashes dies

Alex Chow was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in an unconscious state in the early hours of Monday morning following late-night clashes between police and protesters in Tseung Kwan O district.

Hong Kong protests: 22-yr-old student who fell from building during clashes dies

Paper cranes are placed on a wall outside the intensive care unit of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong on November 8, 2019. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

Alex Chow, the Hong Kong student who fell from a multi-storey car park while police and protesters were clashing last weekend has passed away at 8.09 am on Friday 22 after suffering brain damage, said hospital officials.

The death of 22-year-old computer science undergraduate of the University of Science and Technology, will likely raise tensions after months of violent rallies in the city divided by its political ideologies.

Alex Chow was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in an unconscious state in the early hours of Monday morning following late-night clashes between police and protesters in Tseung Kwan O district.

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He was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood inside a car park that police had fired tear gas into after protesters hurled objects from the building. The precise circumstances of how Alex Chow came to be injured are unclear but he has been embraced by the five-month-old protest movement.

According to The Guardian, in a “citizen’s press conference” held by protesters, demonstrators said, “In this tragic moment, we plead to all to bear in heart and mind who the real culprits behind Tsz-lok’s death were. His fall was not an unfortunate accident. It was an intentional manslaughter executed by tyranny and the police force.”

Chow’s death is reportedly the first casualty of this brutal protest which has been going on since June. On October 1, police shot a protester in the chest with a live round and another in the leg on October 4, but both recovered. In September, a journalist was blinded in one eye after being hit by a rubber bullet fired by police.

On Friday, protesters and democracy activists mourned Chow and students called for a candle light vigil on Friday at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Facing an unprecedented political crisis, citizens of Hong Kong have been protesting the oppression from China which was sparked by now scrapped extradition bill. Protesters, which largely include young students from High School to colleges demand their democratic rights and freedom of expression, something which is not practiced in mainland China.

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