Anti-extradition bill protesters rally at the departure hall of Hong Kong airport in Hong Kong, China August 12, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Hong Kong, More than 5,000 protesters gathered at Hong Kong airport on Monday, police said, as authorities cancelled all the day's remaining flights in and out of the busy international transport hub.
"The information I got before we came in was that in the airport passenger terminal building there are over 5,000 protesters," said Kong Wing-cheung, senior superintendent of the police public relations branch, at a press conference.
Kong said airport authorities had allowed demonstrators to gather in the arrivals halls -- although the protest was not granted a permit from police -- but accused the activists of blocking departures.
"Some of the protesters had gone into the departures hall, causing some passengers to be unable to enter the restricted area to exercise their personal freedom, which is to board their flight," he said.
Pro-democracy activists staged three days of sit-ins at the airport from Friday, but the protests were significantly smaller than Monday's which followed a weekend of often violent confrontations between police and demonstrators across the city.
