A pig killed a butcher after being stunned at a slaughterhouse - before waking up and lashing out.
The city's police say the 61-year-old, who worked at the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse near the in Hong Kong's border with mainland China, sustained a wound from a 15-inch meat cleaver after the writhing pig knocked him to the ground.
The butcher had just shot the pig with an electric stun gun when it regained consciousness and toppled him over.
A little later, a colleague found him unconscious with a cleaver in his hand and a wound on his left foot.
He was later pronounced dead at hospital.
Hong Kong police said his cause of death is still to be determined.
The region's labour department expressed its "deepest sympathy" to the butcher's family and said it has launched a probe.
In a statement, the department said: “The Labour Department is saddened by the death of the person and expresses its deepest sympathy to his family,” it said in a statement.
“We will complete the investigation as soon as possible to identify the cause of the accident, ascertain the liability of the duty holders and recommend improvement measures.
"We will take actions pursuant to the law if there is any violation of the work safety legislation."
Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department - which manages slaughterhouses in the city - offered condolences to the man's family.
It's currently unknown whether the pig managed to escape slaughter.
Pigs are rarely violent animals, only when protecting their young, and are considered highly intelligent.
Their high-aptitude comes from their capacity for social interaction, emotional cognition, ability to feel pain and hygiene routines.
It comes after it emerged that animals are being abused in UK slaughterhouses in front of CCTV cameras - but there's still no action being taken.
Only one in 300 complaints about animal welfare in UK farms led to a prosecution over the last four years, with half of the accused holdings not even inspected.
A report by Animal Equality and the Animal Law Foundation also said that fewer than three in 100 of the UK’s estimated 291,000 farms had an annual inspection by a public body between 2018 and 2021.
It also found how there is just one inspector in place for every 205 farms in the UK, unveiling the stark reality of law enforcement.
The report gathered data from 65 investigations conducted by a number of animal protection organisations between 2016-2021.
Illegality or substandard practices were discovered on every facility, which included evidence of pigs having their tails cut off, cows unable to walk or stand, and hens crammed into overcrowded cages.
But over 69% of cases resulted in no subsequent formal enforcement action.
