Two men were discovered dead in a flat at Tin Yiu Estate in Tin Shui Wai on Sunday morning, both having died several days before their discovery, reports the SCMP.
The two men, one an 84-year-old confined to his wheelchair and his 61-year-old son in law, were found after neighbors started complaining of a foul odour emitting from the apartment.
The son-in-law, surnamed Zhu, was taking care of his father-in-law, surnamed Chiu, who was confined to the wheelchair with a urine drainage bag and too weak to move in or out of the wheelchair.
Zhu is believed to have died five or more days ago after suffering a fatal fall. As Chiu was unable to feed himself, he passed away one to two days after Chiu’s death.
“The older man was gaunt and appeared to have starved for a long time,” said an SCMP police source.
According to Apple Daily, Zhu may have suddenly felt sick in the middle of the night and fallen off his bed. Chiu may have tried to help his son-in-law, falling out of his wheelchair in the process.
A police investigation concluded that there were no suspicious circumstances around either of their deaths, and a postmortem examination will be conducted to find the exact cause of both deaths.
Both Chiu and Zhu are believed to be from the mainland, where Zhu’s wife currently works. Zhu returned from abroad in 2009 after a failed business venture abroad, but was unable to return to the mainland as he had given up his mainland Chinese passport.
The case has led to calls for better social services for the city’s elderly.
Photo: Screenshot via AppleDaily.com
