The body of Chu Wai-kwun, 62, is removed from the Charterhouse Hotel in Causeway Bay. His lover, June Cheung, 60, was found unconscious.

Police believe two star-crossed lovers in their 60s - who first met decades ago in primary school and reunited just three years ago - planned to kill themselves in a hotel room. The man died but the woman survived.

The body of the 62-year-old man, Chu Wai-kwun, was found by an employee at the Charterhouse Causeway Bay on Wanchai Road yesterday. June Cheung Yin-king, 60, was found collapsed with him. She was taken unconscious to Ruttonjee Hospital.

The couple were primary school classmates more than half a century ago but met again three years ago and fell in love.

Police are waiting to take a statement from the emotional Cheung, and have told her family not to talk to her before they have seen her.

Cheung worked at a warehouse where Chu was a keeper for about a year until about four months ago, when their relationship were exposed.

Cheung's family reported her missing on Wednesday night after she said in her Facebook that she wanted to end her life.

She also changed the profile pictures on her Facebook to photos of herself and Chu at midnight.

Cheung wrote two death notes revealing her unhappy, suicidal thoughts and a change in arrangements for her inheritance. But Chu did not leave any death notes in the room.

The police found an empty box of sleeping pills, strong liquor and a cup of brown liquid believed to be a mixture of alcohol and sleeping pills. Police suspect the "cocktail" was meant for Cheung. They believe Chu swallowed most of the 50 sleeping pills in the box.

There was also a bottle of antiseptic liquid and a bottle of bleach in the bathroom, as well as a butcher's knife in a drawer.

The crime squad of Wan Chai District is investigating whether Chu and Cheung, who are both married to other partners and have children, entered into a suicide pact.

There was no wound on the Chu's body and no signs of a violent struggle in the room, said Louis Kwan Chung-yin, assistant police commander of the squad. Initial investigations suggested the two had regularly met since they reunited at a friend's gathering.

Cheung worked in Chu's company for about a year before she quit about four months ago, Kwan said. A post-mortem will be conducted to confirm the cause of Chu's death, he said.

Cheung regained consciousness in the afternoon, but was too emotional to make any statement, Kwan said.

Clarence Tsang Chin-kwok, the executive director of the Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong, said it was rare to hear of people in their 60s committing suicide over love. Rather, it is more common to find elderly killed themselves due to loneliness following the death of their partner, he said.

For people who prepared more than one tool to commit suicide, it may imply that their determination to die is strong, Tsang said.

"The more detailed the suicide plan, the stronger determination to die."