5 hikers fall ill as hot weather grips Hong Kong on public holiday

Five hikers fell ill across Hong Kong on Monday as sweltering weather swept the city during the final day of the Chung Yeung Festival long weekend. On Po Pin Chau, a popular hiking location in Sai Kung, a 62-year-old Chinese woman and her companions experienced dizziness and weakness around 10:30 am. Suspected of having heatstroke, she was rescued and flown to the hospital.

A family of three on the MacLehose Trail near Tai Tong Country Park faced a similar situation; the mother, in her fifties, vomited and was airlifted for suspected heatstroke treatment. Another case involved a brother and sister hiking from Sam Mun Tsai to Ma Shi Chau in Tai Po; the 63-year-old woman complained of heart problems and was flown to a hospital for care.

Additionally, a woman in her forties, hiking on Ho Hok Shan in Yuen Long, also fell ill around the same time, experiencing heatstroke symptoms. Finally, an elderly man in his nineties hiked at Luk Wu Tung in Plover Cove Country Park and reported feeling weak, prompting him to call for assistance. The Hong Kong Observatory noted that an anticyclone aloft was bringing generally pleasant weather to southern China, while an easterly airstream affecting the Guangdong coast was gradually easing.

The city experienced hot and dry conditions throughout the day, with temperatures reaching 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 Fahrenheit) at the observatory's urban headquarters, with higher readings in some parts of the New Territories.