Moscow, Nov 15 (Sputnik) A 70-year-old man died after being injured in clashes between government supporters and anti-government protesters in Hong Kong’s Sheung Shui area, a local hospital said.
The RTHK broadcaster reported on Thursday that the man, who worked as a cleaner for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department via an outsourced firm, had been hit in his head with a brick.
“The patient’s situation continuously deteriorated. He passed away”, a spokesperson for the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin said in a statement, as quoted by RHTK.
According to the broadcaster, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, said it suspected that the man had been hit in his head by “masked rioters.”
The department said the authorities would support his family.
Hong Kong has been gripped by protests since June. The demonstrators initially demanded that the authorities abandon amendments to extradition legislation. However, despite the regulations were canceled, the protests continued. Thousands of protesters have been detained and hundreds of people, including both demonstrators and police officers, have been injured.
The violence increased on Monday. On Wednesday, the police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters. The demonstrators, in their turn, threw Molotov cocktails and stones and blocked off roads in the area.
The recent spike in violence in Hong Kong was condemned by the United States and South Korea.
