HK campus protesters fire bows and arrows, set fires

Hong Kong protesters shot bows and arrows and hurled petrol bombs from a barricaded university campus yesterday, as police charged and charged again, firing tear gas and blue liquid from water cannon after fiery clashes overnight.

Several protesters fired arrows from rooftops at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University amid some of the most dramatic scenes in over five months of unrest in the Chinese-ruled city.

Police said a media liaison officer was hit in the leg by an arrow. He was taken to hospital for treatment. A metal ball bit another officer in the visor, but he was not wounded.

Protesters stripped down to their underwear, before being hosed down by colleagues with fresh water to wash off the dye, not knowing what it contained.

Police also fired tear gas to try to break up protesters on the artery of Nathan Road in the Kowloon district of Mong Kok.

Huge fires had lit up the sky at the university in the heart of Kowloon district overnight as protesters hurled petrol bombs, some by catapult, and police fired volleys of tear gas to draw them on to the open podium of the red-brick campus.

A protester aims an arrow at police near the university. Photo:AFP

The clashes spread into yesterday evening, with protesters greeting each water cannon charge with petrol bombs. Police were trying to clear the bridge above the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, where protesters took cover behind umbrellas.

Protesters set fire to debris on the bridge, in turn setting off a series of small explosions, forcing many to flee.

In the university courtyard, civil engineer Joris, 23, said he would be prepared to go to jail in his fight against the government. Those shooting arrows were protecting themselves, he said.

Chinese soldiers in a base close to the university were seen monitoring developments with binoculars, some dressed in riot gear with canisters on their chests.