HONG KONG: "He was very nice to his friends," said Ah Chou, a Polytechnic University student, her voice falling lower and lower as she recalled her friend Cheung Tsz-him and the moment he was swept away by a rogue wave Sunday.

Cheung, a first-year engineering student at Polytechnic University, was one of about 50 students who went on a camping trip to Tai Long Sai Wan. Sunday morning, after breakfast, about twenty students were enjoying themselves on the beach. Cheung was playing with a floating plate with some friends, when out of nowhere came a two-meter wave. Four of the group, including Cheung, were swept away in the stormy waters.

It was so close, Ah Chou told China Daily. One of the four grabbed onto Cheung and tried to save him but a second wave came. Cheung Tsz-him was torn from the grasp of the other student and swept away, not to be seen again. The three others caught in the waves made it to safely back to shore.

"I was facing toward the beach at the moment that the wave was coming. Soon I heard people shouting 'help!', saying some of us are missing," said Ah Chou, who had been playing nearby. "We were very scared at the time. We got together and checked who was missing. Some swam into the sea to try to save him. The rest of us went back on shore, looked after each other to make sure everyone was safe."

"They came back, very unhappy, because they could not rescue him. You know, someone was saying 'I can almost ...'" Ah Chou's voice broke as she recalled her anguish that moment when one of her companions came so close to bringing Cheung back. "I was trying to call the police, finding a phone. Cell phones barely had a signal there. But I didn't help too much because I had a cramp."

After the accident, Ah Chou has met the three other students who escaped the waves. "They are fine. But everyone is unhappy," She said, "It's just so sad."

Cheung Tsz -him began his college life just this month at the university's engineering school.

"It was the time after the tide fell. They didn't realize they had already gone somewhere where the waters could be deep, very close to the sea. They didn't know the weather was turning due to the bad mobile phone signal there," said Sam Wong, the external vice president of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Students' Union.

The strong waves were driven by the northeast monsoon. Typhoon Ketsana swept far to the south of Hong Kong. Public beaches in Sai Kung and other places in Hong Kong had hoisted the red flag Sunday morning because of heavy seas. Hong Kong Observatory announced the standby signal No 1 was in force at 10:15 pm later that night.

Helicopter, marine police, and fire service divers arrived to look for Cheung, but it was already too late. The search carried on into Monday morning, when Cheung's body was located by the government flying service (GFS) helicopter. It was around 9 am. His family came to identity his body.

Sam Wong said the trip was organized by a PolyU student, who was on the staff of the Students' Union, but the event was not an official Students Union activity. Students from other schools including Hong Kong University also joined the party.

(HK Edition 09/29/2009 page1)