Drones and AI tools, over 300 people, 4 miles and 7 days: how Hong Kong rescuers combined grit and tech to find missing teen in area spanning nearly 1,900 football fields
- Firefighters, paramedics, Civil Aid Service members scoured Ma On Shan Country Park in race against time to find Matthew Tsang
- ‘Using a drone, we took more than 10,000 photos and used AI photo analysis tools to search for features not shown on the map,’ says Cheung Tin-yu, senior station officer at Fire Services Dept
Rescuers deployed drones and artificial intelligence (AI) tools in their seven-day search for a missing 17-year-old teenager who was found alive and well in Hong Kong on Wednesday afternoon, with volunteers calling it an “extremely lucky” outcome.
Emergency personnel revealed in a media briefing that they deployed extensive manpower and technology as they combed the hills of Ma On Shan Country Park in a race against time to find Matthew Tsang Hin-chit.
Firefighters, paramedics, Civil Aid Service members scoured an area spanning more than 10 sq km (4 miles), equivalent to nearly 1,900 football fields, over the past week.
Their progress was at one point hindered by Typhoon Koinu, which triggered the No 8 and 9 storm warnings, and a black rainstorm over the weekend.
Firefighters found the boy in undergrowth about 100 metres (328 feet) from a hiking trail in Lo Shue Tin in the country park on Wednesday. Police said they would investigate the circumstances of how he went missing after his condition stabilised.
