Hong Kong police broke through the barricades of a besieged university campus on Monday afternoon to arrest those cornered inside, after chaotic scenes overnight and a pre-dawn attempt by police to storm the site.

The push came after protesters on the Polytechnic University campus emerged in force to a barrage of tear gas after police who had blocked all ways out of the area.

Riot squads cordoned off the campus after they attempted to storm the site shortly before dawn. Some protesters tried to escape then, but were beaten back with tear gas.

“The police have made a large number of arrests,” Al Jazeera’s said from the scene, adding that it was “eerily quiet”.