Police are surrounding a Hong Kong university campus after a fiery overnight stand-off with hundreds of protesters inside.
As riot police moved in on the Polytechnic University from all sides, some protesters retreated inside the campus, while others set fires at the main gate as well as on bridges leading to it. Some also launched petrol bombs from catapults triggering fiery explosions.
Dozens of protesters tried to leave after sunrise but turned back as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
The police said tear gas was fired because “a large group of masked rioters…suddenly charged at cordons”.
Police who have warned that everyone in the area could be charged with rioting reportedly made a number of arrests. Some people were taken away in ambulances.
The acting president of PolyU’s student union Ken Woo told broadcaster RTHK that at least 500 people remained inside the campus.
He said fresh water was available, but food supplies were running low. Demonstrators have been occupying the site for days, as Hong Kong’s violent protests continue to escalate.
On Monday afternoon, police said protesters could leave the campus via Cheong Wan Road South Bridge – but urged them to drop their weapons and remove their gas masks.
But Mr Woo said some had decided to stay put as they would be “arrested anyway” if they left.
The campus has been occupied by protesters for several days. Overnight, protesters threw petrol bombs and bricks at police, and even fired arrows from bows.
The city’s Hospital Authority said 38 people were injured overnight, while a Reuters witnesses saw some protesters suffer burns from chemicals in the jets fired from police water cannons.
Elsewhere in the city, black-clad protesters roamed streets around the popular tourist area of Nathan Road before dawn while three young women pushed a trolley of petrol bombs down one of the city’s busiest tourist districts.
The protest began in early June with mass marches triggered by a proposed extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial.
Although the proposed law has now been withdrawn, public anger has been fuelled by the authorities’ refusal to address protesters’ demands for an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality;
The United States condemned the “unjustified use of force” in Hong Kong and called on Beijing to protect Hong Kong’s freedoms.
