Mainland China students flee Hong Kong over protest violence fears

Mainland Chinese students have begun fleeing Hong Kong campuses over security fears, police and university officials said Wednesday, as the city's seething political crisis saw some of its worst violence this week.

The most intense clashes on Tuesday occurred at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where pitched battles were fought with the police firing tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets and protesters throwing petrol bombs and bricks, paralysing the campus and the area around it.

A group of mainland students at CUHK attempted to depart the campus Wednesday morning over safety concerns but had to be shuttled away by boat because they were unable to leave via obstructed roads, the police said.

"The police decided to deploy a police launch to assist the group of students to go to a safe location," the force said.

Images on local outlet Stand News showed dozens of people -- some carrying luggage -- standing next to a vessel with police markings, purportedly fleeing the campus.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology meanwhile arranged a special bus service to shuttle students from its campus to a station that offers services to the mainland.

"While we are not aware of any imminent threat to campus safety, we understand some staff and students have the desire to leave campus," the university said in an email to students.

It was not immediately clear how many mainland Chinese students have left Hong Kong during the latest escalation of violence.

The protest movement is the biggest challenge to Beijing's rule since Hong Kong was returned by Britain in 1997, fuelled by fears that China is choking the liberties and freedoms the city is meant to have under the handover deal.

More radical demonstrators have targeted businesses and people perceived to be pro-China. In a particularly shocking incident, a man was doused in a flammable liquid and set on fire during an argument with pro-democracy protesters.

The city government has announced that classes at all Hong Kong schools will be suspended on Thursday.