Photo: GT

HONG KONG, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- A large group of radical protesters disrupted the operations of the Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday afternoon after they charged security cordon lines and damaged airport facilities.

Protesters have been gathering at the bus stops of the airport terminal since 1:00 p.m. local time. At around 2:00 p.m., the radical protesters started to charge water-filled barriers, pointed laser beams at the airport authority staff, and blocked roads with trolleys and mills barriers.

They also hurled objects at police officers and airport authority staff. Some radical protesters used iron bars to smash the doors of airport facilities.

Those protesters were participating in an unauthorized assembly, the police said in a statement, adding that since an injunction order was in force at the airport, the protesters might be liable to offence of "contempt of court".

At around 3:30 p.m., the police said they would soon conduct a dispersal operation and warned all protesters to leave and stop their illegal acts immediately.

As the protesters left the airport, some black-clad men built barricades to keep police away and paralyze the traffic surrounding the airport.

Train service from and to the Hong Kong international airport was suspended as a large group of protesters have been throwing iron sticks, bricks and stones on the rail since 4:00 p.m., with some of them even breaking into the track, the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) said.

After days of disturbance and violence by unlawful assemblies at the airport, the airport authority obtained an interim injunction from the court on Aug. 13 to restrain persons from unlawfully and willfully obstructing or interfering with the proper use of Hong Kong International Airport.

The court extended the interim injunction at the airport on Aug. 23 and announced that the order would maintain the status quo until trial or further order of the court.

On Saturday, rioters set fires on main streets, vandalized government buildings, and paralyzed traffic in a massive outburst of violent acts. Hong Kong has gone through a catastrophe, Yu Hoi-kwan, senior superintendent of Police Public Relations, said early Sunday.

At least 40 people had been arrested by the police from Saturday night to the wee hours of Sunday over offences including participating in unlawful assembly, criminal damage and obstructing the police.