A 49-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of trying to kill himself and his family including twin sons aged five by burning charcoal at a home in Kowloon’s Kwun Tong on Monday.
A security guard on patrol at 4am at the Park Metropolitan in Kwun Tong, where the family lived, knocked on their door after spotting smoke coming out from their flat, Apple Daily reported.
The father was found unconscious in his bedroom with his older son, who was conscious when paramedics arrived. A tray of burning charcoal was found inside the room.
The man’s 30-year-old wife surnamed Chan and their younger son were in another bedroom. Both were conscious and unhurt.
The father and the elder son were sent to the United Christian Hospital for medical examination. The man later regained consciousness and both he and his elder son were in a stable condition.
The couple were understood to be new migrants from mainland China but both were unemployed. The father was in financial difficulties as he had failed to pay the rent for three months, Oriental Daily reported.
No suicide note was found. But police arrested the man for allegedly trying to commit suicide and attempted murder.
The Samaritans run a 24-hour multilingual suicide prevention hotline on +852 2896 0000 or emails can be sent to jo@samaritans.org.hk.