Radical protesters disrupt operations at Hong Kong airport

A large group of radical protesters disrupted the operations of the Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday afternoon after they charged security cordon lines and damaged airport facilities.

Protesters gather on Hennessy Road in Hong Kong on August 31, 2019. [Photo: AFP]

Protesters have been gathering at the bus stops of the airport terminal since 1:00 p.m. local time. At around 2:00 p.m., the radical protesters started to charge water-filled barriers, pointed laser beams at the airport authority staff, and blocked roads with trolleys and mills barriers.

They also hurled objects at police officers and airport authority staff. Some radical protesters used iron bars to smash the doors of airport facilities.

Those protesters were participating in an unauthorized assembly, the police said in a statement, adding that since an injunction order was in force at the airport, the protesters might be liable to offence of "contempt of court."

At around 3:30 p.m., the police said they would soon conduct a dispersal operation and asked all protesters to leave and stop their illegal acts immediately.

As the protesters left the airport, some black-clad men built barricades to keep police away and paralyze the traffic surrounding the airport.

In the nearby Tung Chung area, some radical protesters pulled down a Chinese national flag from a building and set it on fire. They also blocked multiple roads and set barricades ablaze at a roundabout, paralysing the traffic.

At around 5:30 p.m., violent protesters committed destructive acts extensively inside the Tung Chung railway station. They dismantled surveillance cameras, damaged turnstiles and fire facilities, and smashed glass panes of a customer service center.

Train service to and from the Hong Kong international airport was suspended as a large group of protesters threw iron sticks, bricks and stones on the rail at around 4:00 p.m., with some of them intruding into the tracks, the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) said.

Train services of Tung Chung line and Disneyland Resort Line were also suspended.

The Transport Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said that due to the road situation around the airport, services of several bus routes to the airport were suspended.

After days of disturbance and violence by unlawful assemblies at the airport, the airport authority obtained an interim injunction from the court on Aug. 13 to restrain persons from unlawfully and willfully obstructing or interfering with the proper use of Hong Kong International Airport.

The court extended the interim injunction at the airport on Aug. 23 and announced that the order would maintain the status quo until trial or further order of the court.

On Saturday, rioters set fires on main streets, vandalized government buildings, and paralyzed traffic in a massive outburst of violent acts. Hong Kong has gone through a catastrophe, Yu Hoi-kwan, senior superintendent of Police Public Relations, said early Sunday.

At least 40 people had been arrested by the police from Saturday night to the wee hours of Sunday over offences including participating in unlawful assembly, criminal damage and obstructing the police.