HONG KONG: A 70-year-old Hong Kong man has died after he was hit by a brick during clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters, a hospital said on Friday (Nov 15), the second person to die in a week of worsening violence.

"The patient's situation continuously deteriorated" and he died late on Thursday, a spokesperson for Hong Kong's Prince of Wales hospital said in a statement.



It was not immediately clear who threw the brick in an incident which was filmed and widely shared on social media.

Reports said that a group of black-clad protesters clashed with residents outside Sheung Shui MTR station in New Territories on Wednesday.



A video circulating online shows the two groups picking up bricks scattered on the ground and throwing them at each other. The man was reportedly hit on the head by a brick in the midst of the altercation.

In the video, the man is seen falling to the ground immediately after being struck, and the brick-throwing continued as he lay on the ground.



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He is the second person in less than a week to die in protest-linked incidents.

Student Alex Chow, 22, died on Nov 8 from head injuries sustained during a fall as police skirmished with demonstrators inside a car park.

The five-month crisis has entered a new phase in recent days with hardcore protesters embarking on a campaign to "blossom everywhere" across the city in a bid to stretch police resources.



The unrest has caused multiple injuries but relatively few deaths despite the barrage of police rubber bullets and occasional live fire, as well as petrol bombs and bricks hurled by protesters.

Protesters have torched vehicles and buildings, hurled petrol bombs at police stations and trains, dropped debris from bridges on to traffic below and vandalised shopping malls and campuses, raising questions about how and when the unrest can be brought to an end.



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