Hong Kong protests: Tung Chung and Tsing Yi stations targeted during airport demonstrations as ticket machines and turnstiles are smashed
MTR and bus lines were suspended as people going in and out of HKIA sought alternative means of transportation
Protesters lit a fire on the bridge between the airport and Tung Chung.Chaos erupted at the Hong Kong International Airport and nearby MTR stations on Sunday as police and protesters clashed, following skirmishes on HK island the night before.
The Airport Express, Disneyland and Tsing Yi MTR lines were suspended, as well as several bus routes, and passengers were told to evacuate Hong Kong station.
At the aiport, protesters threw objects like bricks, rubbish bins and metal rods onto the train tracks, and began throwing objects at airport workers after staff closed a metal gate between the bus terminus and the arrival complex.
Members of the media were also denied entry inside.
Protesters formed a blockade into the airport using trolleys and water barriers, taped over CCTV cameras in the arrivals hall, blocked emergency exits and set off fire extinguishers outside the airport terminals, smashing the glass doors of the compartments containing the equipment.
Due to traffic leading to the airport, travellers, airline staff and protesters were forced to get off stalled buses and travel on foot.
Tsing Yi MTR station was vandalised and turnstiles and security cameras were spray painted black. In Tung Chung station, demonstrators smashed through the window of the control room, vandalised signs and used baseball bats to smash gates and ticket machines. They also broke a fire hose and flooded water into the station.
Also in Tung Chung, protesters pulled down a Chinese flag from a Tung Chung Swimming Pool and set it on fire.
In the early afternoon, around 500 people gathered for a peaceful demonstration outside the British Consulate in Admiralty, holding up British and Hong Kong colonial flags in support of a petition to give British Overseas National passport holders the same righs as British citzens.
A spokeswoman for the organisers of the British consulate rally said, “I declare the Sino-British Joint Declaration void. We urge the British government to react accordingly and take immediate action to protect British Nationals in Hong Kong by any means necessary. On behalf of Britons here, we urge the government to grant full British citizenship to British nationals."
A proposed family march in Tin Shui Wai asking the government to respond to the five demands was delayed so it wouldn't clash with the airport protests. A new date has tentatively been set for September 14.
Head over to the live blog at the South China Morning Post for more coverage of today's events.