A 78-year-old woman and her 74-year-old brother were found dead in their flat in Rua da Penha (西坑街) yesterday, the Judiciary Police (PJ) said in a statement last night.
The two lived together in the flat, which is located near Penha Hill. The man with reduced mobility needed long-term care from his sister, according to the statement.
The Fire Services Bureau (CB) transferred the case of the discovery of two bodies to the Judiciary Police for follow-up investigation at around 4:45 p.m. yesterday, the statement said.
The statement said that a resident of the building had not seen the duo for some time, thereby calling the emergency services yesterday afternoon after “worrying about their safety”.
Firefighters and paramedics arrived at the scene, where through a window they saw “somebody” lying in a bedroom, the statement said.
They broke into the flat by damaging its metal gate and wooden door with tools. Entering the flat, the statement said, they found a man lying in a bedroom and a woman lying in another bedroom.
The statement said that no obvious signs of a struggle were found in the flat, and neither were there any other suspicious circumstances found at the scene.
After initial examinations of the two bodies, the statement said, PJ forensic pathologists believed that the woman had been dead for over one month and the man had been dead “for a while”.
According to the statement, the examinations also showed that neither had any injuries that could have been caused by foul play, and neither had any suspicious injuries.
The statement said that as the man had reduced mobility, he had always stayed at home rarely leaving the flat. The man needed long-term care by his sister for basic daily activities, the statement said.
The statement said that autopsies will be carried out to confirm the respective exact causes of the duo’s deaths.
