'Police Entered MTR Area After Getting Attacked'

Police said that the decision to enter Yuen Long MTR station was taken after some protesters attacked them with a fire extinguisher from the footbridge leading to the station.

Senior superintendent Yolanda Yu also said the officers had not notified the MTR authorities about the move as the decision was a split-second one.

Yu also defended the use of several rounds of tear gas during their clearance operation in Yuen Long on Saturday, despite criticism that they indiscriminately fired many rounds of tear gas in some residential areas.

Footage showed officers firing volley after volley of tear gas in several locations around Yuen Long, including on the main Castle Peak Road where shops and flats are located.

Democratic Party lawmaker, Roy Kwong, who was at the scene had lambasted the police for firing tear gas in an area, where he said an elderly care home was located.

But Yu clarified that their tear gas bullets didn’t hit any elderly homes, and the force had previously asked 22 care homes in the district to secure their windows and shut them properly.

She added that no care home residents were affected by the gas.

There was a reason for officers to use tear gas, sponge bullets and rubber bullets in Yuen Long, she added, as the force had seen some violent behaviour from protesters who had endangered public safety.

She said some had charged police’s cordon lines with iron rods and makeshift shields around Nam Pin Wai village at around 3pm.

In one case, she said some officers were locked inside a police vehicle on On Lok Road, because it was surrounded by protesters who then vandalised the van.

She said a glass window and an iron frame have been smashed and torn off from the car, but no officers were hurt.

Police have arrested 11 men, aged between 18 and 68, for offences including unlawful assembly, possession of offensive weapon, assaulting police officer and assault. It also said at least four officers were injured during the operation.