Protest numbers swell as police move to clear Hong Kong barricades

 Hong Kong (CNN) -- Pro-democracy demonstrations heated up again in Hong Kong early Saturday as thousands of protesters converged on the city's busy Mong Kok commercial and residential district. The numbers increased overnight, swelling to 9,000 protesters, Hong Kong police said.

Protesters crossed police lines, authorities said, clashing with officers as the situation turned violent.

At least 240 people were injured over the past 24 hours, according to the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, which manages all public hospitals in the city.

Fifteen police officers were injured, the Hong Kong Police public relations branch said.

More than two dozen people were arrested. Authorities said 26 protesters, ranging in age from 21 to 52, were taken into custody. They faced charges that ranged from property damage and disorderly conduct to obstructing police, weapons possession and resisting arrest, police said.

Violence erupted after police conducted a dawn raid Friday on a student protest camp in the commercial and residential area of Kowloon.

Authorities moved to clear a major intersection occupied by the pro-democracy protesters for almost three weeks, tearing down tents and dismantling barricades.

Around 500 to 600 police carrying wire cutters and riot shields stormed the Mong Kok site, a smaller offshoot of the main downtown protest area, catching the 100 to 200 protesters by surprise.

Police also used a crane to tear down makeshift structures.

A CNN team at the scene said most protesters did not put up any resistance. Police later said they arrested one 48-year-old man for common assault.

Photos: Hong Kong unrest

 

University student Adrian Lui, who had been at the protest camp for three days, said he was sleeping when the police moved in.

"They were running towards us with shields and at that moment we were nervous. Lots of people got spooked and ran down side streets."

Lui said he would stay at the site in the hope that back-up protesters would arrive.

Pictures from CNN affiliate iCable Friday afternoon showed a small number of protesters sitting on the street in Mong Kok, preventing traffic from flowing southbound along Nathan Road, a main thoroughfare in Kowloon.

In a statement, police said that they had designated an area for protesters on the sidewalk and called for them to disperse.