A Bangladeshi man died after a cliff fall in southwest Lantau early this morning after arriving illegally by boat from mainland China.

The man had tried to climb a cliff at Kau Ling Chung when he fell, losing consciousness, SCMP.com reported.

He was one of a party of ten who had come ashore at the remote site at around daybreak. Police received a call at around 8:30am, but took more than an hour to locate the group because they could not give their exact location.

“Police were first told they were hikers. They later revealed they were Bangladeshi illegal immigrants who arrived from the mainland by boat,” a police source said.

“Due to the strong current and high waves, our boats were unable to berth and pick up the group,” a police spokesman said, adding that a Government Flying Service helicopter was also unable to deploy due to bad weather.

The man was  rescued by Marine Police at 11am and taken to North Lantau Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Post said people smugglers may have tried to bring the men into Hong Kong undetected under the cover of today’s bad weather.

After a rash of illegal arrivals on Lantau early last year, number of unauthorised entries has fallen sharply as a result of greater surveillance.  Most arrivals are from South Asian countries.

Photo: Kau Ling Chung (Lantau News)