Citywide strike erupts into night of chaos in Hong Kong
HONG KONG - Hong Kong tumbled into chaos Monday night, with multiple neighborhoods bathed in a neon haze of tear gas as police, residents and protesters clashed in simultaneous confrontations across the city. Clashes unfolded in the city's central financial district, business and shopping areas, working-class neighborhoods and rural suburbs.
The chaos came after a day of strikes and civil disobedience that had paralyzed much of the city's public transportation system through the morning.
Hong Kong is in its ninth week of protests, triggered by a proposed extradition bill that symbolized Beijing's unwanted influence on the territory, now a movement demanding government accountability, scrutiny of the police and democratic reforms.
Protesters blocked subway doors, pressed emergency buttons in the mass transit stations and placed bikes, trolleys and other objects on the train tracks, causing most of the subway lines
