Twenty-one Edinburgh University students have been recalled from student exchange programmes in Hong Kong as university campus grounds turn into 'battlefields'.
The move follows a week of extreme violence in the streets of Hong Kong, where police shot a protester and activists set a government supporter on fire when he confronted them.
Footage has emerged of running riot police firing tear gas and less-lethal projectiles into a sports ground as protesters run for shelter at Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) - where Edinburgh University currently hosts a student exchange programme.
Anti-government protests have been raging in Hong Kong for months, and students and other protesters have taken over major campuses, building barricades and stockpiling petrol bombs and other weapons.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong announced on its website that classes at the educational institute are now suspended for the rest of the year, and others have asked students to switch to online learning.
A spokesperson for Edinburgh University said: "The suspension of classes at educational institutions in Hong Kong has affected 21 Edinburgh students, who are currently on exchange there.
"We are therefore requesting that all of our students in Hong Kong return to the UK, at their earliest opportunity.
"We are providing advice and support to each affected student to ensure all are in a position to return to the UK."
Endy, who graduated from CUHK, told Mirror Online that the police were 'out of control' when firing tear gas towards students.
He said: "I felt sad, it [CUHK] is like my second home and I feel like I needed to protect it when the police came throwing tear gas.
"It's rumoured that at least 60 people were injured and we are now forming a human chain to deliver any useful resources to nearby first-aid stations.
"I feel that the government and the police would do anything in order to stop the chaos in the city, even with an intention to kill the younger generation."
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