All flights departing from Hong Kong have been cancelled today, Monday 12 August, as thousands of demonstrators file into the city’s International Airport. The airport is one of the region’s busiest hubs, handling up to 1,100 flights daily to and from 180 cities globally.
Demonstrations have been taking place at the airport all weekend, although the number of protestors swelled significantly today. According to CNN, ‘ today’s mass gathering was sparked by allegations of unnecessary police violence on Sunday.’
Some protestors were seen wearing eye patches, in response to pictures of a woman with a bleeding eye after she was reportedly shot in the eye.
According to Al Jazeera, its correspondent Rob McBride said that ‘over 5,000 protesters have reportedly descended on the airport. There is a sense of outrage here…the police have used their baton, they have fired tear gas…and so there is a sense of outrage what some are calling police brutality.’
‘Especially significant is the wounding of a girl, at one of the protests, who may well have lost an eye as a result,’ McBride added, saying that ‘the protesters have completely taken over the terminal.’
In a statement, the airport authority said, ‘other than the departure flights that have completed the check-in process and the arrival flights that are already heading to Hong Kong, all other flights have been cancelled for the rest of today.’ Passengers have been instructed not to travel to the airport.
Incoming flights that are already en route to Hong Kong will be allowed to land, airport officials confirmed. Incoming visitors have been asked to leave the airport as quickly as possible after landing.
Feature image: hk01_hk/ Instagram
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