Hong Kong Airport Suspends All Check-Ins Amid Pro-Democracy Protests

The move comes in the backdrop of massive demonstrations where pro-democracy protesters blocked the airport facilities.

A tourist (C) gives her luggage to security guards as she tries to enter the departures gate during another demonstration by pro-democracy protesters at Hong Kong's international airport on August 13, 2019. - Protesters blocked passengers at departure halls of Hong Kong airport on August 13, a day after a sit-in forced authorities to cancel all flights to and from the major international hub. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

New Delhi: Flight check-in has been suspended at Hong Kong International Airport for a second consecutive day, reports said on Tuesday, while the airport authorities reveres a previous statement that all departing flights had been cancelled. The move comes in the backdrop of massive demonstrations where pro-democracy protesters blocked the airport facilities.  The Hong Kong airport which is one of world’s busiest has been the site of protests for five consecutive days. Several videos flooded on social media which showed a large number of passengers struggling to get through demonstrators blocking the passage. The airport’s website issued a statement saying "terminal operations at Hong Kong International Airport have been seriously disrupted, and all check-in processes have now been suspended. All passengers are advised to leave the terminal buildings as soon as possible." It however did not clarify how many flights would be cancelled. It however reversed a former statement that said all the flights have been cancelled. Meanwhile, the UN rights chief voiced concern over force used against protesters during massive demonstrations and called for an impartial probe amid increasingly violent unrest in the key financial hub. Millions of people have so far taken to streets in the ten weeks of unrest in one of the largest demonstration of the world . The protests which began in protest against a bill that would have allowed extraditios to the mainland, but turned into a demand of rights and freedoms.