Road Traffic To Yuen Long Slows To Crawl

Roads leading to Yuen Long on Saturday slowed down to a crawl due to heavy traffic ahead of a protest by anti-extradition bill campaigners at the MTR station there.

The rail operator had shut the station, which was the scene of a mob attack on passengers and anti-government protesters which hospitalised dozens of people. The protest was called to mark two months of that attack.

On top of MTR shutting their services four hours ahead of the protest, police had apparently restricted road access to the area.

One RTHK reporter who travelled to Yuen Long from Tai Po by minibus said it took more than 90 minutes to cover the distance, a trip that would have been covered under 40 minutes on a normal day. Some of the lanes on the way were blocked and police vehicles were parked on the way, the reporter said.

In Tuen Mun, long line of people were seen waiting for buses to Yuen Long. Some people said they were going there for dinner though reports from Yuen Long said most of the shops near the MTR station were closed.

At one point, a heated argument broke out after some passengers complained that some minibus drivers demanded HK$40 for the trip.