Hong Kong protests: Violence as protesters are attacked by masked assailants at metro station

Violence erupted in Hong Kong last night as dozens of masked men stormed a train station and attacked protesters.

The men, suspected triad gangsters, flooded into the rural Yuen Long station and stormed a train where they launched a terrifying assault, footage has shown.

Eye-witnesses said white-shirted assailants appeared to target black-shirted passengers who had been at an anti-government march.

Footage posted on social media showed dozens of men attacking people with batons inside the station.

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Forty-five people were injured, with one person in critical condition.

But police were slow to arrive at the scene, sparking questions from law-makers.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, who was injured in the attack, said it took police more than an hour to arrive after he alerted them.

He said officers had failed to protect the public and allowed the triads to run rampant, according to government-funded broadcaster RTHK.

"Is Hong Kong now allowing triads to do what they want, beating up people on the street with weapons?," he asked reporters.

While fellow pro-democracy lawmaker Ray Chan asked in a tweet: "Hong Kong has one of the world's highest cop to population ratio. Where were [they?]"

A government worker, aged 22, described chaotic scenes as people scrambled off the train: "People started to run in all directions, just avoiding the gangsters," he said.

Police said they had not made any arrests but were still carrying out investigations.

The masked men stormed Yuen Long MTR station at about 10.30pm local time (2.30pm UK time), as people made their way back from protests in Hong Kong’s financial district.

The government said in a statement that "some people” congregated at the platforms of the Yuen Long station and train compartments, “attacking commuters".

"This is absolutely unacceptable to Hong Kong as a society that observes the rule of law. The SAR (Special Administrative Region) Government strongly condemns any violence and will seriously take enforcement actions," it added.

Hong Kong Police also confirmed: "Some people attacked commuters at the platforms of the Yuen Long MTR station and train compartments, resulting in multiple injuries."

The mob attack followed a pro-democracy rally earlier on Sunday in the centre of Hong Kong, during which riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters.

Organisers of Sunday's protest say more than 430,000 people took part but police put the figure at 138,000.

Mass protests have been held for weeks, initially over an extradition deal with mainland China but now covering other issues on democracy in Hong Kong.

Protesters are demanding the full withdrawal of a bill to allow people to be extradited to mainland China for trial, where the courts are controlled by the Communist Party, fearing it would undermine Hong Kong's judicial independence.

They are also demanding independent inquiries into the use of police force against protesters.

Some police had been injured in the clashes after protesters hurled bricks, smoke grenades and petrol bombs, the force said in a statement.