Hong Kong: Anti-Occupy Central Demonstrator Threatens to Leap Off Bridge

A protester has threatened to throw himself off a bridge as police clash with pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong.

The anti-Occupy Central demonstrator threatened to leap from a bridge at the Hong Kong protest site in Admiralty.

He shouted and waved to crowds below, threatening to throw himself off the bridge as he protested against the blocking of the roads near the Government Complex.

The man is demanding to talk to campaign leaders and is calling for the roads to be re-opened so that his three children can go to school, according to Channel News Asia. Firefighters have inflated an air bag underneath the bridge and are trying to talk him down.

There were suggestions that dialogue was resuming between protestors and police. Students occupying the area outside Hong Kong's government headquarters have agreed to remove some barricades that have blocked the building's entrance during the weeklong demonstrations.

Television footage from the scene showed a protest representative shaking hands with a police officer, according to an AP report.

However, it was not immediately apparent whether all the students had decided to withdraw from the demonstration altogether. Reports suggest that it appeared to be part of a strategy to move to another part of town.

Student leaders called on the thousands of people on the streets to regroup at outlying protest sites and join the bulk of demonstrators in the heart of the Asian financial centre. Hong Kong's chief executive, CY Leung, appeared on television Saturday evening to urge everyone to go home, saying key roads roadblocked by protesters needed to return to normal by Monday so business could resume.

The Transport Department also urged commuters to "plan their trips in advance", as "traffic would be much more congested tomorrow", according to the press release issued by the Hong Kong government.

Special arrangements will also be made to facilitate students and teachers who have to return to school starting tomorrow, it added.