Hong Kong protests continue amid the essential Lunar New Year celebration. Accordingly, the protesters and police forces’ encounter resulted in a riot.
On Saturday evening, prior to 11 pm, protesters were allegedly blocking Portland Street with various objects. In response to the act, the Hong Kong police forces had to administer a crowd dispersal operation.
“At around 11 pm, when police were preparing to leave after law enforcement action, some rioters threw glass bottles and miscellaneous objects at a police vehicle,” the forces said in a statement.
Despite the fear of neighboring coronavirus outbreak and the meaningful evening, protesters and police forces clashed in a riot. To disperse the masses, the police fired tear gas bombs.
The riots caused passers-by to flee from the Portland Street. Moreover, some were also fleeing to the nearby shopping center Langham Place due to the tear gas bombs.
Reportedly, protesters gathered to commemorate the fourth anniversary of 2016 Mong Kok riot, known as fishball revolution.
Also Read: Coronavirus Limits Lunar New Year Celebration in China
What Happened in Hong Kong during Lunar New Year Celebration
Protests were not the sole problem Hong Kong is facing this year. The coronavirus outbreak in China also jeopardized Lunar New Year celebration in Hong Kong.
The government cancelled several events to minimize the potentials of virus transmission in the country. Events such as the Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Carnival and the Lunar New Year Cup football tournament were cancelled.
“We are encouraging people to make less unnecessary trips, so unless we believe it is necessary, we probably don’t want to hold too many big crowd-gathering events,” said Jacob Kam , CEO of rail operator MTR Corporation.
The CEO also added that the company would also tighten the security and cleaning. This, in addition, is according to the government’s ‘serious’ alarm.
“We have built our plans based on the experience from the SARS epidemic so we believe that we are reasonably prepared for what is coming,” Kam said.
“Among all these different measures, of course we have the enhanced cleaning of our premises, trains, all the public areas as well as our staff areas. In addition, we have our body temperature measurement for our ports. The government has put in place body temperature screening and symptoms screening arrangements.”
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