- The 16-year-old, who says a 'strong wind' slammed the locker door shut, has been reunited with her parents after leaving home on December 30
- Firefighters were required to break into the 90cm unit, though the girl was uninjured
A schoolgirl reported missing more than three months ago has finally been found by police " not due to an investigation, but because of a prank.
The 16-year-old, who failed to return after leaving her parents home in late December, was hanging out with friends at the Ching Long Shopping Centre in Hong Kong's Kai Tak area on Wednesday morning when she decided to stuff herself into one of the 90cm lockers used to hold items for online shoppers.
"The girl found one of the lockers wide open. She climbed into it for fun and hid herself inside, but (she told us) the door was suddenly slammed by strong wind. She was unable to open it," a police spokesman said.
After shouting for help, two male friends who had been with her were forced to seek help from a security guard, who then called police.
Emergency personnel were called to the shopping centre on Muk Chui Street shortly after she became trapped at about 6.15pm.
Firefighters broke open the locker to free the girl, who was uninjured and did not require a check-up in hospital, the spokesman said.
Police said there were no suspicious circumstances in the incident.
The girl, a Form Three student, told her parents she planned to stay at a friend's flat for a few days when she left her Wong Tai Sin home on December 30. Her mother filed a police report on January 6 after she had been gone for a week.
According to police, she was brought to the Ngau Tau Kok police station after being freed from the locker and her parents were called to pick her up.
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.