Blaze Starts Near Hong Kong Polytechnic University Following Police's Assault - Reports

Following last week's clashes, many protesters withdrew into the university, turning it into a makeshift fortress to fend off the law enforcement officers.

The police stormed into the university early in the morning, after a prolonged standoff with the protesters, who barricaded themselves in the university's campus. In response, the protesters began hurling Molotov cocktails at them, causing the aforementioned fire.

The mass protests began in China's special administrative region in early June as a reaction to a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed people to be extradited to the mainland. The protests eventually escalated into violent confrontations between demonstrators and the police.