Hong Kong protesters once more plan to disrupt airport after night of chaos
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Pro-democracy demonstrators planned on Sunday to choke travel routes to Hong Kong’s international airport after a chaotic night of running battles between police and masked protesters in the Chinese-ruled city.
Protest organisers have urged the public to overwhelm road and rail links to the airport on Sunday and Monday, potentially disrupting flights. A similar so-called “stress test” of the airport last weekend failed.
Late on Saturday and into the early hours, police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets and protesters threw petrol bombs, escalating clashes that have plunged the Asian financial centre into its worst political crisis in decades.#
A protester wearing a gas mask throws back a tear gas canister fired by police during an anti-government rally in Hong Kong, China. EPA-EFE/JEON HEON-KYUN
Officers fired two warning shots in the air to scare off a group of protesters who had them surrounded and were trying to steal their pistols, the police said, only the second time live rounds have been used in more than three months of unrest.
Parts of the metro system ground to a halt as skirmishes spread to the subway, with television showing images of people being beaten as they cowered on the floor behind umbrellas. Three stations remained closed.
This is the 13th straight weekend of demonstrations that have plunged the Chinese-ruled city into its worst political crisis in decades.
