Hong Kong protests: school pupil injured after being chased by police during anti-government demonstrations in Tai Po
- Online video shows officer sprinting after a group of fleeing students in school uniforms and apprehending a boy who fell
- Force says it was just conducting checks at school gate, and floor was slippery when the chase broke out
A pupil was injured when police chased demonstrating students in Tai Po, Hong Kong on Tuesday morning, sparking further protests and leading a school to cancel all classes in the afternoon.
The incident happened on the second day of a citywide strike, which saw tens of thousands of university and secondary students boycotting classes and joining anti-government rallies on Monday, the first day of the new school term.
In a video circulated online, a police officer was seen sprinting after a group of fleeing students in school uniform when one boy fell to the ground outside the gates of secondary school Confucian Tai Shing Ho Kwok Pui Chun College (HKPC). The policeman also fell on him.
The student apparently scraped his lips and hands, which were seen bleeding in photos circulated online. He was later treated by medics and sent to hospital.
Dozens of school pupils, some of them from the neighbouring Kau Yan College, as well as adults, had earlier gathered at the school gate on Tuesday morning to protest against HKPC principal Leung Chau-wan, who had warned students not to take part in the class boycott.
About 20 police officers arrived at the scene to disperse them at 8.10am, shortly after classes began and the school shut its gates. Police also checked the identity cards of a few students, said Gary Kan, who works at the office of Tai Po District Council member Yam Kai-bong.
A Form Four student, who only gave his surname as Chan, said the schoolboy’s injury angered many of them, leading them to suspect Leng called police as she opposed the class boycott.