Scuffles As Tensions Run High At HKUST Forum

Scuffles broke out between local students and those from the mainland as the president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology held a forum to discuss its response to a fall that left a 22-year-old student fighting for his life.

University security guards had to step in to separate the two groups after the incident, which apparently began with pushing between mainland and local students. A mainland man was then attacked. At least four people were injured in the incident on Wednesday evening.

The forum earlier viewed footage from protests on Sunday night and in the early hours of Monday, which showed police deploying tear gas around the Sheung Tak Estate, from where the student fell. The man, who has not been named, remains in a critical condition.

Meanwhile, the Citizen's Press Conference, a forum set up by anti-extradition campaigners to put across their views, urged the car park's owner, Link Real Estate Investment Trust, to release more CCTV footage of the aftermath of the fall.

Link REIT released 10 clips of the incident, but it did not show the moment the young men fell, as the CCTV cameras rotate and are sometimes blocked by vehicles.

Speakers at the press conference urged the operator to release all footage from Monday until today, which they say would shed light on what happened to the student.

They accused the police of relentless use of tear gas and delaying an ambulance from reaching the scene.

"The press did not capture the moment of his ultimate, untimely fall, yet the mere, ominous pool of blood, splattered across the cold car park ground, and the frail black surgical mask lying innocently on the site of the tragedy was enough to bring anyone with the slightest trace of conscience to bitter grief," a speaker said.

"To this date, we still have no answer as to why the police decided a large diversion was more important than a young citizen's life."

The Fire Services Department earlier said that its ambulance had been delayed in getting to the scene by traffic congestion.

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