In a Hong King, a homeless woman in a McDonald’s restaurant lay dead while diners continued to eat around her for a number of hours before authorities were contacted.
The unidentified woman, believed to be aged between 50 and 60, died in the fast-food chain on Saturday morning, and her case is being used to highlight the increasing number of homeless people searching for a place to stay in restaurants open 24 hour per day.
At around 8:30am yesterday, a McDonald’s employee called police after finding the woman unconscious and cold at her table. She was confirmed dead at the scene.
Local media in Hong Kong claimed the woman’s body was found slumped over the table at which she had been sitting, 24 hours after she had first gone inside the McDonald’s branch in the Ping Shek district. Police officers are currently trying to identifying her, but she was carrying no identification documents.
The McDonald’s outlet remained open while police carried out their investigations and removed the woman’s body to a nearby morgue. The area where she had been sitting was cordoned off from members of the public, but by 1pm, only 90 minutes after she had been taken away, all tables were reopened to the restaurant’s diners.
The South China Morning Post said that the woman was believed to regularly patronise the McDonald’s 24-hour restaurant in order to spend the night indoors.
Hong Kong, a financial hub that was a British territory until the 1990s, remains one of the most affluent cities in China, but the plight of its small – but growing – number of homeless citizens remains an issue for city authorities.
The Ping Shek branch of McDonald's where the homeless woman passed away
The estimated 1,000 homeless people in Hong Kong are unable to afford the rent even the most basic accommodation in a city where the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment is more than €2000 per month.
Many of the city’s homeless seek shelter in its 24-hour fast-food restaurants, where air conditioning provides relief from the soaring temperatures and high humidity.
A McDonald’s Hong Kong spokeswoman expressed grief and offered McDonald’s condolences, promising that the fast-food chain would cooperate with police in their investigation. The Ping Shek Estate restaurant was cleaned and disinfected immediately after the incident, she added.
A spokesperson for Hong Kong’s social-welfare department said that the incident was very concerning.
“We endeavour to support street sleepers to enhance their self-reliance ... the subject is a complex social problem,” said a department spokeswoman.
