Citywide protests disrupt Hong Kong as students barricade campuses

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Antigovernment protesters paralyzed parts of Hong Kong for a fourth day on Thursday, forcing school closures and blocking highways and other transport links to disrupt the financial hub amid a marked escalation of violence.

Protesters have torched vehicles and buildings, hurled petrol bombs at police stations and trains and vandalized prime shopping malls over the past week in some of the worst violence seen in more than five months of unrest.

Black-clad protesters and university students maintained their blockades of major roads, including the entrance to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel that links Hong Kong island to the Kowloon area, and a highway between Kowloon and the rural New Territories.

Police fired tear gas near the tunnel early on Thursday to try to clear the protesters. Roads were strewn with bricks and other debris leading to widespread traffic jams.

Thousands of students barricaded themselves inside campuses at several universities overnight, preparing stockpiles of food, bricks, petrol bombs and other make-do weapons as they hunkered down.

Dozens of riot police gathered outside several universities early on Thursday as students fortified their positions with metal poles, bricks and chairs.

Masses of commuters queued at metro stations across the city after some rail services were suspended and roads closed. Some people, dressed in office wear, shouted at riot police who were deployed on station platforms.

More protests are planned for later in the day including in the business district, home to some of the world’s most expensive real estate, and around its glittering shopping malls.

Police said on Wednesday violence had reached a “very dangerous and even deadly level.”

Authorities said 64 people were injured during Wednesday’s clashes, which left two men in critical condition. There were no further details about their injuries.