A man has been set on fire in Hong Kong only hours after a protester was shot by police with a live round, as the city experiences one of the most dramatic days in over five months of protests.
Protesters began disrupting transit as early as 7 a.m. local time as part of a day-long general strike, and clashed with police in several locations. In Sai Wan Ho, on eastern Hong Kong Island, a traffic police officer shot a 21-year-old protester in the torso.
The protester was in a critical condition on Monday morning, but by the afternoon, police said there was no immediate threat to his life. The shooting sparked public outrage, escalating what had already looked to be a long day of demonstrations.
In a separate incident, a man who confronted a group of pro-democracy protesters was doused in a flammable liquid and set alight, according to a graphic video seen by CNN and widely shared on social media. The video shows an unidentified and unarmed man shouting expletives at protesters before saying “you’re all not Chinese.”
The man is in hospital in a critical condition, the city’s Hospital Authority told CNN. A Hong Kong police source said that they are investigating the incident which took place on Monday at the Ma On Shan subway station in the New Territories.
Skirmishes continued through the evening as protesters called for another round of demonstrations on Tuesday, according to flyers shared online.
