The 47-year-old senior inspector was certified dead after being taken to a hospital for emergency treatment, the spokesman said.

The officer disappeared while he and a colleague tried to rescue an unidentified person from gushing flood waters near a village in Ta Kwu Ling, close to the border with China.

The Hong Kong Observatory raised the red rainstorm warning signal early Monday for the first time this year, as heavy rain exceeding 50 millimeters (two inches) an hour and landslides were expected.

All schools were closed as a result of the warning and flooding was reported in several low-lying areas in the territory.

The government has opened up 10 temporary shelters for people in need of accommodation. Some 16 people were rescued in 71 floodings territory-wide.

Five landslides were reported but no casualties were reported.

More than 100 millimeters (four inches) of rainfall were recorded in the northern part of the New Territories, the region that adjoins mainland China.

SPACE.WIRE