Hong Kong's MTR networks partially re-open after weekend protests

The transport networks in Hong Kong such as the Mass Transit Railway was partially reopened on October 6, after the services were completely shut down a day before. Reportedly this has never happened before in the city. According to reports by foreign media, the Transport Department issued a statement in the morning which says that some of the MTR stations will remain closed citing serious damage. The stations that are closed are the ones that were torched and trashed by demonstrators during some violent protests all over the area surrounding the Asian financial centre against the mask ban on October 4 night.

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Protests are on due to the Anti-mask law

The MTR stated that the stations remained closed since they needed some amount of time to repair the damages that were caused. Train services in Hong Kong which includes even the airport express line remained shut down on October 5 because of the vandalization on businesses and railway stations by protesters a day before. The protests are currently underway due to a new anti-mask law that seeks to stop people from covering their faces during any protests, regardless of the legal status of the assembly which would prevent the identity of the person. The Hong Kong government implemented the law quickly as it was enforced from Friday night. Among the closed stations, there are several major interchanges of Admiralty, Prince Edward, Mong Kok and Tai Wai as per reports by a local Hong Kong publication. 

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Hong Kong protesting from several months

According to foreign media reports, Hong Kong's Monetary Authority spokesperson was quoted saying about 10% of the 3,300 ATMs in the city will not work because of the destructive nature of the protests and violence over the weekend. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-Ngor imposed the ban with hopes that it will help calm down the protests against the government which have been past few months. The protests earlier started because of the anti-extradition law which has now been withdrawn. There have been regular vandalism in Hong Kong ever since. A High Court justice on the Sunday morning was supposed to hear the crucial and urgent plea from 24 lawmakers who support the pro-democracy movement. The case was to put a suspension on the mask ban temporarily. 

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( With inputs from ANI)