Hong Kong protest: Universities, schools shut down amid unrest

As the law and order situation in Hong Kong has deteriorated, some universities and schools in the semi-autonomous territory were shut down on Tuesday.

The financial hub of Asia is witnessing turmoil for another day after a man was shot at and another was set alight following a confrontation with protestors on Monday.

By 8 a.m. police have already fired tear gas on the city's streets.

As black-clad protesters hit the streets and set up barricades and a collection of bows and arrows piled nearby. By the afternoon, tensions escalated between police and protestors as the latter threw petrol bombs, causing an empty car group to go up in flames.

Reacting to the protests, Police spokesman Kong Wing-cheung said society had been "pushed to the brink of a total breakdown" over the past two days -- and said if anyone who was still making excuses for protesters' violence, they needed to "do some soul-searching."

"If anyone still has any wishful thinking that they can achieve their so-called ideals by using violence, please wake up," he said. "If you still refuse to cut ties with rioters and are still looking for excuses to defend them, you are indeed an accomplice."

Monday emerged as one of the worst days of the anti-government protests that have grappled the semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong since June. At least 60 injuries were reported today including two gruesome incidents -- a student was shot with a live round and a man was set on fire. Chief Executive Carrie Lam condemned the widespread violence and termed the two incidents "very worrying", reported South China Morning Post.

In total, 287 people were arrested on Monday, including 187 students.

The protests in the city escalated over the death of Chow Tsz-lok, a computer sciences student at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Chow had suffered a severe head injury in a parking garage close to the scene of protests.