Police fired water cannon and tear gas in running battles with brick-throwing anti-government protesters in Hong Kong on Sunday, the second day of violent clashes in the Chinese-ruled city, Trend reports citing Reuters.
The protesters, many in masks and wearing black, threw several petrol bombs, some taking off down narrow side streets in the pouring rain. Water cannon have never been used until now in years of anti-government protests.
The MTR rail operator had suspended some services to try to prevent people gathering. But tens of thousands of protesters, calling for democracy for the former British colony, made it to a sports stadium in the vast container port of Kwai Chung, from where they marched to nearby Tsuen Wan.
Some dug up bricks from the pavement and wheeled them away to use as missiles, others sprayed detergent on the road to make it slippery for the lines of police. Clashes spread in many directions as protesters broke shopfront windows and threw tear gas canisters back at police.
The vast majority marched peacefully as a large contingent of protesters split up, radiating out to at least four other locations across Hong Kong to launch smaller, wildcat demonstrations that police sought to disperse, sometimes with tear gas.