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Hong Kong (CNN) -- Rowdy scenes erupted at the main Occupy Central protest site in Hong Kong on Monday after hundreds of people opposing the pro-democracy occupation tried to tear down protest barricades.
Police formed a human chain to separate the protesters and people intent on breaking up their three-week long occupation of the Admiralty district, near the city's financial center.
Dozens of men, some wearing surgical masks, were seen jostling with protesters and demanding that police remove the barricades and clear the roads, according to live images from local television station iCable.
They were heard screaming at protesters, accusing them of damaging their livelihoods. The television commentator identified them as taxi drivers, transport industry workers and other people who said they weren't affiliated with any groups.
However, protesters could be heard yelling, "there are triads here," a reference to criminal gangs in the city known for controlling smuggling, prostitution and illegal gambling rings.
Police on loudspeakers called for calm, and eventually convinced protesters to form a corridor to allow their opponents to leave.
Earlier, police started to remove barricades from protest sites in Admiralty and Mong Kok, but issued a statement saying they were moving "obstacles" to relieve traffic "not to clear the scene."
Photos: Hong Kong unrest
Police "pushed back a couple of barricades, dismantling them," said CNN's Ivan Watson, from the Admiralty protest site earlier on Monday. He said the protesters had responded by moving their tents closer to the barrier but the streets had remained peaceful.
Clashes as masked men rush Hong Kong protest barricades - ASIA
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Dozens of masked men rushed barricades at Hong Kong's main pro-democracy site Oct. 13, triggering clashes as demonstrators tried to push them back and police struggled to contain the chaos.
Groups of men, many wearing surgical masks, descended on the front lines of the rally at Admiralty near Hong Kong's central business district, hours after police had moved in to remove some barricades and shrink the site.
Two of the men were tackled to the ground by police, who also formed a cordon around the masked group.
Protesters, who have come under attack from organised crime gangs known as triads at another flashpoint rally site in Mongkok, shouted: "Weapons! Weapons!" and "Arrest the triads".
Television footage showed one masked man being forced to drop a small flick-knife.
taxi drivers, many of whom have voiced frustration with more than two weeks of protests which have blocked roads and caused traffic gridlock, added to the fray by converging on the site in their cars, beeping horns and shouting at demonstrators.
Some had "We can't take it any more" printed on the fronts of their cabs.
Other groups opposed to the "Occupy" pro-democracy campaign also appeared at Admiralty, chanting "Occupy is illegal" and demanding that roads be reopened.
Police formed a line in front of the anti-Occupy protesters as trucks with cranes arrived on the scene and began removing barricades, an AFP photographer saw.
October/13/2014
Police formed a human chain to separate the protesters and people intent on breaking up their three-week long occupation of the Admiralty district, near the city's financial center.
Dozens of men, some wearing surgical masks, were seen jostling with protesters and demanding that police remove the barricades and clear the roads, according to live images from local television station iCable.
They were heard screaming at protesters, accusing them of damaging their livelihoods. The television commentator identified them as taxi drivers, transport industry workers and other people who said they weren't affiliated with any groups.
However, protesters could be heard yelling, "there are triads here," a reference to criminal gangs in the city known for controlling smuggling, prostitution and illegal gambling rings.
Police on loudspeakers called for calm, and eventually convinced protesters to form a corridor to allow their opponents to leave.
Earlier, police started to remove barricades from protest sites in Admiralty and Mong Kok, but issued a statement saying they were moving "obstacles" to relieve traffic "not to clear the scene."
Photos: Hong Kong unrest
Police "pushed back a couple of barricades, dismantling them," said CNN's Ivan Watson, from the Admiralty protest site earlier on Monday. He said the protesters had responded by moving their tents closer to the barrier but the streets had remained peaceful.
Clashes as masked men rush Hong Kong protest barricades - ASIA
--------------------------
Dozens of masked men rushed barricades at Hong Kong's main pro-democracy site Oct. 13, triggering clashes as demonstrators tried to push them back and police struggled to contain the chaos.
Groups of men, many wearing surgical masks, descended on the front lines of the rally at Admiralty near Hong Kong's central business district, hours after police had moved in to remove some barricades and shrink the site.
Two of the men were tackled to the ground by police, who also formed a cordon around the masked group.
Protesters, who have come under attack from organised crime gangs known as triads at another flashpoint rally site in Mongkok, shouted: "Weapons! Weapons!" and "Arrest the triads".
Television footage showed one masked man being forced to drop a small flick-knife.
taxi drivers, many of whom have voiced frustration with more than two weeks of protests which have blocked roads and caused traffic gridlock, added to the fray by converging on the site in their cars, beeping horns and shouting at demonstrators.
Some had "We can't take it any more" printed on the fronts of their cabs.
Other groups opposed to the "Occupy" pro-democracy campaign also appeared at Admiralty, chanting "Occupy is illegal" and demanding that roads be reopened.
Police formed a line in front of the anti-Occupy protesters as trucks with cranes arrived on the scene and began removing barricades, an AFP photographer saw.
October/13/2014
