HONG KONG, Aug 13 — A small group of riot police used pepper spray to beat back protesters outside the city’s airport tonight as they tried to escort a man who was being taken away in an ambulance.

Around two dozen officers found their police van blocked by a few hundred hardline protesters as it followed the ambulance, an AFP reporter on the scene said.

The police officers jumped out of the van to clear a path, using pepper spray on the crowds and detaining at least two people. — AFP