Hongkongers struggle to get around city as protesters block roads, build barricades and leave chaos in their wake
- Half of city’s metro stations stay closed while main roads on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon are impassable
Traffic on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon was brought to a near standstill in certain areas on Sunday, as demonstrators built barricades and blocked main thoroughfares on another day of illegal protests.
Tempers ran high as residents tried to navigate the disruption, with more than half of the city’s 94 metro stations staying closed throughout the day. By 9pm, the entire network was again shut down.
Arguments broke out as people crammed on to those buses still crossing the harbour, while an elderly woman and protesters traded insults in Yau Ma Tei when she complained there was no public transport available because of the marches.
Police issued a succession of statements about protesters “setting up barricades with barriers and intercepting vehicles on the road”, and also suspended report room services at Wan Chai and Mong Kok police stations, both of which have previously been besieged by protesters.
“Police express the strongest condemnation against these acts, which endanger the safety of road users,” police said in one statement.
As protesters marched against the government and its new mask ban along Nathan Road in Kowloon, and Hennessy Road on Hong Kong Island, radicals built barricades, using materials ripped up from beside the road, or torn from buildings, including bamboo poles, metal road barriers, traffic cones and rubbish bins.