Students Demand Answers, Uni Calls For Calm

Students at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) announced a vigil on Friday to mourn the death of 22-year-old Chow Tsz-lok, as they also demanded management seek answers as to what happened to him.

Chow was found lying in a car park with serious head injuries on Sunday night, shortly after police had fired tear gas at protesters there. He was pronounced dead on Friday morning at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

HKUST's students' union quoted Chow's family as saying they would like to thank the people of Hong Kong for their support and encouragement over the past few days.

The union said a minute of silence was being held on campus in memory of Chow at 1pm, and there would be a candlelight vigil at 6pm.

A spokesman, Fu Pui-ying, urged the university's president, Wei Shyy, to find out what had caused Chow’s devastating injuries.

“We’re definitely very sad about Chow’s death. At this stage we don’t have any other action for finding out the truth of Chow’s death. But we’ll definitely assist the school and urge our president to find out the facts,” Fu said.

In a statement offering its condolences to the family, HKUST also urged students to remain calm. It said they should be restrained to "avoid further clashes and tragedy".

The government, meanwhile, said it was deeply saddened by Chow’s death and would like to send its deepest sympathy to his family.

In a statement, a government spokesman said the police are highly concerned about the incident and are "conducting a comprehensive investigation with a view to finding out what happened".

But 24 pro-democracy lawmakers said in a joint statement that the police's comments on the matter so far have failed to answer the "many questions" about Chow's injuries.

The legislators said Chow was the first young person to die after being injured at the ongoing anti-government protests and they hope the truth about what happened will be revealed as soon as possible for the good of his family.