Hong Kong: 28 arrested after fatal gambling raid

Hong Kong police bust six suspected illegal gambling dens but a man died while trying to escape.

Hong Kong.- A gambling den raid in the city of Mong Kok resulted in the death of a 58-year-old man who jumped from a third floor while trying to escape.

Police caught seventeen men and 11 women, aged between 22 and 61 according to local press, after an investigation lead the officers to six suspected illegal gambling dens.

The operation was conducted by the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau and the Police Tactical Unit.

The 58-year-old man, Chow, attempted to escape with three other suspects through the window of a third-floor flat on 71 Tung Choi Street as police stormed the premises.

The other suspects, two men aged 22 and 44 and a 27-year-old woman, returned after police persuasion and were arrested.

Chow was found unconscious on the first-floor canopy and sent to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei where he was declared dead.

Police said initial investigations showed the man, who had a lengthy criminal record and a Triad background, lost his footing and fell while attempting to flee the scene.

“An autopsy will be carried out to establish the cause of death,” police said.

The suspects were arrested for offences relating to operating an illegal gambling establishment, gambling, failing to produce proof of identity on demand, possession of drugs and possession of instrument fit for the smoking of dangerous drugs.