Due to anti-government protests, flight check- in at Hong Kong International Airport has been suspended for a second successive day.
The airport, one of the busiest in the world, has been the site of daily protests since Friday.
Social media videos demonstrate passengers struggling to get through protesters who have been sitting inside and blocking departures.
The chief of the city, Carrie Lam, published a new alert to protesters previously.
Ms Lam said that Hong Kong had “attained [ a ] hazardous condition” and that violence during demonstrations would push it “down a road of no return.”
What’s going on at the airport?
Despite officials ‘ recent warnings, crowds collected again on Tuesday at the airport.
Inside images emerged to demonstrate demonstrators using luggage trolleys to construct obstacles and some travelers became agitated and angry at the disturbance.
Hong Kong airport officials then announced that all check- ins had been suspended from 16:30 local time (10:30 GMT).
In a statement on the airport’s website, passengers were advised to leave the terminal buildings “as soon as possible”.
It is uncertain to what extent Tuesday’s arrivals will be affected.
Some demonstrators kept signs apologizing to travelers for the inconvenience created by their protests. Others wore eye bandages in solidarity with an injured protester and brandished slogans criticizing the deepening crackdown by the police.
Doctors at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong also held a tiny sit- in protest against police brutality on Tuesday, local press report.
Protests began in June in reaction to a suggested extradition bill that has now been suspended but has developed into a more challenging pro-democracy movement. They are being fuelled by fears that Hong Kong’s liberties are being eroded as China’s unique administrative region.
What are authorities saying?
On Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, encouraged officials to practice restraint during demonstrations-in the midst of criticism of police reaction.
“Officials can be seen firing tear gas canisters into crowded, enclosed areas and directly at individual protesters on multiple occasions, creating a considerable risk of death or serious injury,” she said in a statement that called for an investigation.
The comments come after Sunday’s ugly footage emerged from confrontations. In the clashes, a number of people, including a police officer, were injured.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam spoke at a hostile press conference on Tuesday about the recent violence .
“Take a minute to think, look at our city, our home – do you all really want to see it pushed into an abyss?” she said, at times appearing close to tears.
Her comments echoed comparable remarks by an official from the Hong Kong Chinese Liaison Office who said Monday that the town would slide “into a bottomless abyss if terror crimes are permitted to proceed.”
Local reporters brought a barrage of issues to Ms Lam in Cantonese and English, many condemning her reaction to the disturbances.
She informed media participants that she was “heartbroken” by reports of severe injuries at last weekend’s demonstrations, but appeared to protect the police from allegations they used disproportionate force, stating they were acting under “highly hard circumstances.”
