Pinoy drowns while sailing with employer in HK

Victoria Harbour

He had prepared to celebrate his child’s birthday.

A 48-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW) died on Saturday (Nov. 23) after he drowned while sailing with his employer in Victoria Harbour.

A spokesman from the Police Public Relations Bureau said the Filipino fell from a “sail boat” in Victoria Harbour about a kilometre off Ngau Tau Kok on Saturday afternoon.

A Philippine Consulate General (PCG) official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said the domestic worker from Pampanga was sailing with his employer and his employer’s son from the when the accident happened at around 3:45 p.m.

They were reportedly sailing from the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club in Causeway Bay to the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Kowloon.

“They were sailing when (the OFW) fell to the sea. (One of his two male companions) tried to save him. A passing sail boat eventually took them out of the water,” the police spokesman said.

“The (Filipino) was unconscious when he was brought to the Ruttonjee Hospital and was declared dead on arrival at 4:52 p.m.,” he added.

The police spokesman said their initial investigation showed that there was nothing suspicious about the worker’s death.  An autopsy would be conducted, he added.

The PCG officer said that the OFW had prepared a birthday party that day for his child with his live-in partner, another OFW here in Hong Kong.

“(His loved ones and the party guests) were waiting for him to come back from the sailing trip when they learned of the tragic news,” the officer said.

The child was born here in Hong Kong and employer had allowed them to live at his home. The OFW was on his second contract with his employer.