The chaos happened after hundreds of students gathered at 1pm for five minutes of silence for Chow Tsz-lok, who died in the morning after suffering severe brain injuries and spending four days in hospital.

Students at HKUST’s piazza in the afternoon chanted slogans demanding that president Wei Shyy condemn police violence.

The university cancelled classes and a graduation ceremony on Friday afternoon, after an emotional Shyy announced Chow’s death at about 10am at a morning session where a moment of silence was observed.

At about 2pm, students gathered outside Shyy’s residence on campus, sprayed slogans on its front door, and placed posters on its outer walls. They then went to a Starbucks and damaged some plates, cups and fridges in the cafe, before pushing over chairs and tables at two restaurants and spraying slogans on walls.

A Bank of China branch on the campus was also damaged.

Some students and graduates brought white flowers in memory of Chow. A year two student, surnamed Yee, 18, said she was shocked and saddened, as she criticised police’s use of tear gas late on Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday in Tseung Kwan O, where the incident happened.

“I really hope [Shyy] can say something to support us [students],” she said, weeping.

“One statement by him as the president has way more influence than hundreds of words from us. I just hope Shyy can, if not condemn the whole police force, at least condemn its violation of guidelines.”

An HKUST year four student who was Chow’s primary school classmate said that although he understood that Chow’s situation had deteriorated over the past few days, he still felt heavy-hearted.

The student, surnamed Wong, said Chow was a hardworking and positive person in primary school, adding that his death was a regretful loss. He also demanded that Shyy condemn police violence.

“I couldn’t have imagined something like this would happen to one of my classmates. He’s someone I knew, why would he suddenly get injured, and then suddenly pass away? There are just too many coincidences.”

Meanwhile at lunchtime in Central, hundreds of people took to the streets to mourn Chow’s death.

At around 1pm, crowds marched from Chater Garden, with some in Guy Fawkes masks. A banner was carried, with the words “rampaging police murdering people”. Parts of thoroughfares in the business district were occupied.

Marchers had gathered at around 12.30pm, calling police “evil murderers” and shouting slogans such as “blood for blood, deliver the truth!” and “Hongkongers seek revenge”.

Tensions flared before protesters marched out of the garden, as a few officers asked a participant to remove his mask, citing the law. This prompted others to hurl abuse at police.

Officers later retreated after raising a yellow flag warning people they were breaching the law and could be prosecuted.

On Chater Road, protesters observed a minute of silence, with some holding white flowers.

An auditor, surnamed Leung, 22, who was among participants, said: “Even without this tragedy, it was just a matter of time for a fatality to happen ... The government has condoned the acts of police. I think the truth will be buried as long as the government is not overthrown.”

He called for constitutional reform, and said even the resignation of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor would be meaningless.

Protesters then marched along Des Voeux Road Central, carrying the giant banner.

Among them was retired teacher Ho, who only gave her surname, who said she was heartbroken to learn about the death.

“This has pushed the protest to its climax. It is horrific to me that the government has lost its conscience, and keeps telling lies,” she said, suggesting that security footage released over the incident did not show the truth.

“I don’t want to go too much into conspiracies. But we demand the truth. I hope all citizens, including the car owners at the site of the incident, can give us some clues.”

Another protester, surnamed Wong, in her 20s, came over from her office in Sheung Wan.

“We still don’t know the real cause of his fall. But it is undeniable that the black cops had deterred the ambulance from reaching him,” she said. “Having heard so many lies from police over the past months, it is just difficult for us to trust them.”

The protests were sparked by the death of Chow Tsz-lok, a second year computer science undergraduate at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Chow was believed to have fallen from the third to second floor of a car park in Tseung Kwan O, as police carried out a dispersal operation with tear gas nearby in the early hours of Monday morning.

Hundreds of office workers march to work in support for student in fall

The 22-year-old had been in a coma after being sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Two operations were carried out to stop the swelling in his head, but reportedly failed to help reduce the damage.

His condition took a turn for the worse on Thursday night before he succumbed to cardiac arrest the following morning, a source said. The hospital confirmed he died at 8.09am, but did not state the cause of death.

Security camera footage released on Wednesday by Link Reit, owner of the Sheung Tak Estate car park, did not appear to capture Chow’s fall, as the cameras rotated during their operation. The view was also partly blocked by parked vehicles.

Sunday’s clash in Tseung Kwan O, which extended into the small hours of the following day, was sparked by a group of people trying to disrupt a police officer’s wedding held in a hotel in the district. It was unclear whether Chow was in the group, why he was at the car park and what exactly caused him to fall.

Questions also remained over whether there was any delay in paramedics reaching Chow, as it took 19 minutes for them to arrive, seven minutes longer than the service pledge of being at a destination within 12 minutes from the time of an emergency call.

By about 2.40pm on Friday, some of the crowds in Central had dispersed but more than 100 protesters remained at a junction on Des Voeux Road Central, blocking traffic and shouting slogans against police. Some buses were forced to stop there and allow passengers to alight. No police presence was seen.

A taxi driver on Peddar Street said he had been stalled for more than an hour. “I can’t run my business. I have already suffered a 30 per cent drop in earnings over the past months,” he added, declining to give his name.

The driver, who rents his cab, grumbled that protesters only cared about themselves while police had failed to enforce the law and clear the blockade.

There were also other flash protests and activities across districts in Hong Kong to mourn Chow’s death on Friday, including at Langham Place in Mong Kok and APM mall in Kwun Tong at lunchtime.

Anti-government protesters also called for people to take part in assemblies across Hong Kong’s 18 districts on Friday evening, including another candlelight vigil at 8pm at the Tseung Kwan O car park where Chow fell.