Images from inside Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University show the aftermath of a week-long standoff between protesters and police.
The fight for control of the Polytechnic University has been one of the defining moments of nearly six months of anti-government protests in the territory.
Protesters barricaded themselves inside the campus almost two weeks ago. The authorities responded by sealing off the campus, trapping more than 1, 000 inside. Over the past week, most protesters have either surrendered or escaped.
Image copyright AFP On Tuesday, university officials spent several hours searching for anyone left. Below, a team including university management, security guards, councillors and the Hong Kong Red Cross walk through a canteen in search of any remaining protesters who may be hiding.
Image copyright AFP Food was left cooking on a hob in the canteen kitchen.
Image copyright AFP Activists – some armed with bows and arrows – engaged in intense battles with the police during the siege. Other items found during the search included, below, a Molotov cocktail and a hammer left on the roof of a university building.
Image copyright Reuters A disparate collection of items were found discarded inside buildings on the campus. Here, clothes could be seen strewn all over a bathroom floor.
Image copyright AFP Other items left behind by protesters included face masks …
Image copyright Reuters … helmets and food left in one room …
Image copyright Reuters … and other belongings left in a dorm.
Image copyright Reuters Officials found only one woman lying exhausted on a couch, who refused to leave. Others might be in hiding, but it is thought unlikely that anyone else remains.
Image copyright Reuters All pictures are subject to copyright.
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