A homeless woman sitting in a McDonald's store in Hong Kong for hours was surrounded by diners unknowingly aware that the woman was actually dead.
Unilad reports that the woman ordered a glass of water from the Hong Kong McDonald's establishment before taking a seat in the restaurant.
Staff claimed that the woman was initially moving, although it only took until the morning after for people to notice that there was something wrong with the 50 to 60 year old woman.
Apple Daily had reported that the woman had not moved for seven hours before diners actually noticed there was something wrong with the woman, citing CCTV footage.
Housing rental in Hong Kong is very high, that residents have become accustomed to homeless people spending the night in restaurant establishments for shelter - which is why McDonald's employees only found out about the woman's death until late.
The woman in question was discovered dead at 8:30AM on Saturday morning, even though she was "slumping over on the table at 1:30AM," 24 hours after she initially entered the McDonald's establishment in the district of Ping Shek.
Police said, according to The Guardian: "Officers arrived upon a report from a female customer [that a person was found to have fainted]. The subject was certified dead at the scene."
Senior director of McDonald's Hong Kong Wendy Lam also issued a statement regarding the incident:
"McDonald's Hong Kong would like to express our grief over the unfortunate incident at our Ping Shek Estate restaurant. [...] We welcome everyone to visit our restaurants any time. In order to provide a pleasant dining environment, we would not disturb our customers, but our service will be offered promptly upon request."
The city's social welfare department said that incident raised several concerns: "We endeavor to support street sleepers to enhance their self-reliance [...] the subject is a complex social problem," said a spokeswoman.
