A gambling den owner has lost his life after a hammer attack outside his business. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

A gambling den owner in Jordan, Hong Kong has lost his life as the result of a vicious hammer attack. Investigators believe it to be the result of a love triangle situation, with the killer and victim supposedly on bad terms because of a shared love interest.

an unconscious man with severe head wounds lying outside the gambling den

According to the South China Morning Post, the incident occurred early on Sunday morning. Police were first alerted to the crime after receiving a report of an unconscious man with severe head wounds lying outside the gambling den at around 6am. Doctors at Queen Elizabeth Hospital pronounced the 33-year-old dead at 7.20am.

So far, police have arrested five people in relation to the incident, including one man and his girlfriend. Police understand this 40-year-old man argued with the victim in the past because he believed he was dating his girlfriend. The couple visited the gambling den at around 2am to look for the victim, leaving with him shortly afterwards.

Once they were outside the building with the victim, the killer hit the victim more than ten times with a hammer before fleeing the scene with his girlfriend. They dumped the murder weapon in a nearby bin. The victim returned to the gambling den but complained of feeling unwell at around 6am. His friends carried him downstairs where he passed out.

One other man and two women have also been arrested as accomplices to the murder, although the details on this are not clear. Police say there is no evidence that the murder is linked to triads, although some of those arrested do have triad backgrounds. Gambling dens are often linked to triads in Asian countries.