Violent protests hit Hong Kong

RADICAL protesters blocked roads and threw petrol bombs outside the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government offices on Saturday evening.

Hong Kong police deployed water cannons and fired pepper spray and tear gas to disperse the violent protesters who also damaged properties in Hong Kong’s Admiralty area.

About 6:30pm, some radical protesters began charging the police cordon line and shined laser beams at police officers at the entrance of the HKSAR government headquarters complex.

About 7:30pm, a large group of protesters blocked the carriageways in nearby Harcourt Road, paralyzing the traffic.

Some violent protesters damaged properties outside the government headquarters complex and aimed laser beams at a helicopter, posing serious threat to the safety of everyone at scene, according to Hong Kong police.

In a statement, police said after giving repeated warnings to the protestors in vain, they used minimum force.

Meanwhile, in the nearby HKSAR Legislative Council complex, the LegCo Secretariat issued a red alert and ordered all persons to evacuate the complex immediately.

About 8:45pm, police water cannon trucks fired blue jets of water to disperse violent protesters, who hurled bricks at police officers and threw petrol bombs at the government office buildings. Several bus routes were suspended or rerouted after protesters blocked roads in Admiralty.

Since June, Hong Kong has witnessed escalating violence from protests over proposed ordinance amendments concerning fugitive offenders transfers.

Although the HKSAR government has withdrawn the amendments, violence has continued.

(Xinhua)