Volunteer search for missing hiker enters fourth night at Hong Kong’s highest peak amid cold, despite official hunt ending

Hong Kong Guardians volunteer rescue group has scoured Tai Mo Shan for past three nights for missing man, with Christmas Eve search likely to be last

Authorities earlier called off operation for hiker missing since Thursday; area has been among city’s coldest in past week, dipping to -1.6 degrees one morning

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Rescue workers at Tai Mo Shan. Volunteers have spent five to eight hours searching for the missing hiker every night. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:28pm, 24 Dec 2023

A search and rescue mission by Hong Kong volunteers will enter its fourth night on Christmas Eve, as they scour the area around the city’s highest peak to find a missing hiker amid chilly conditions, even after authorities halted their own operation.

Anson Cheng, founder of the Hong Kong Guardians volunteer rescue group, on Sunday said he and three others headed to Tai Mo Shan in the New Territories to help look for the man every night since he was reported missing last week.

“The main difficulty is that we have no official data about the missing person,” said Cheng, adding his group was not likely to continue its search after Christmas Eve.

“We don’t know his height, age, outfit or other features that could help identify him.”

Emergency services vehicles at Tai Mo Shan. Authorities earlier mobilised 40 officers from different departments for the official search. Photo: Handout

The Mandarin-speaking man called police for help on Thursday, saying he was hiking at Tai Mo Shan – the city’s highest peak at 957 metres (3,140 feet) – but could no longer continue because of the cold weather.

The area was among the city’s coldest last week. Temperatures there hovered around freezing on Saturday morning, falling to as low as -1.6 degrees Celsius (29.1 Fahrenheit), the sixth-coldest on record in the area.