Tear Gas, Arrests As Police Storm Through Kowloon

Scores of riot police started a clearance operation in Kowloon from around 9.20pm on Saturday night, racing through the streets of Mong Kok and firing tear gas in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Officers stormed along Prince Edward Road West and then Nathan Road in Mong Kok.

They were also out in force on Austin Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, where tear gas was fired at protesters shortly before 9.30pm, and again at around 10pm.

Officers were seen using batons to repeatedly beat protesters knocked to the ground at the intersection of Nathan Road and Argyle Street in Mong Kok. A number of people, some with bloodied faces, appeared to have been arrested during the chaotic and violent scenes.

Police later issued a statement, belatedly announcing the clearance operation and advising residents in the vicinity of Nathan Road to stay indoors and keep their windows closed.

Passersby were seen rushing into an MTR station after being hit by tear gas.

By around 10.10pm, protesters had started small fires at different places on Nathan Road.

Scores of protesters later attempted to take over Prince Edward Road West in Kowloon City, blocking vehicles travelling along the road. One furious taxi driver jumped out of his cab to remove metal barriers placed in the road.

This group of protesters kept on walking and around 20 minutes later they had reached San Po Kong.

As tear gas was fired at the crowd in Mong Kok at around 10.40pm, those marching began gathering outside Wong Tai Sin Police Station.

Police in Mong Kok, meanwhile, raised an orange flag, warning they could shoot at protesters. But the protest there, and further down Nathan Road, petered out not long afterwards.

There had been very little police presence during the day, even when many marchers deviated from the agreed route from Mong Kok to Tai Kok Tsui.

No officers were seen when roads were later blocked in Tsim Sha Tsui, and when the Cross Harbour Tunnel was blockaded on the Kowloon side for around half an hour.

But officers did briefly rush out of Mong Kok Station earlier in the night, chasing people away from the station before retreating back inside.

The police station in Tsim Sha Tsui had also been under attack from protesters throwing bricks and eggs and smashing up vehicles inside the complex's grounds.

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