19. As on 6th May, it was the pickets at the factory that started the incident. Again disregarding the warnings they had been given regarding the limits of legal picketing, they surged towards the factory gates and threatened to break in. As they numbered about a hundred, with an estimated crowd of 1,500 in the offing, the management asked for Police assistance to control the situation. Two companies of Police were sent to the scene shortly after 3.30 p.m. on 11th May but the crowd refused to withdraw or disperse and bottles were thrown at the Police. By 4 p.m. order had been restored: the crowd had been pushed back and, while there was some shouting and waving of 'Red Books', it appeared that the incident would die down. The Police had fired 'baton shells'; these are wooden projectiles discharged from a 'Federal' gas gun which can incapacitate at close range but are not likely to cause serious injury. No tear gas or other weapons were used. The only known casualty was a girl who had been hit on the knee and was slightly injured.
20. The crowd did not, however, disperse and further crowds began to build up in adjacent streets. At the approach of the Police they would melt away only to return to the attack again, often in a more aggressive mood and in larger numbers. At 4.25 p.m. another company of Police was brought into action and they achieved a temporary con- trol of the situation. From experience gained in the disturbances of 1966 it was thought that the presence of the riot police might in itself be a provocation. With this in mind the Police were ordered at 6.20 p.m. to withdraw from the affected area. They were unable to do so and had to fight a rearguard action. The disorders continued: the Kowloon Police companies were mobilized, a helicopter patrol was set up and, finally, at 7.25 p.m., the Police Auxiliaries were called out. It was decided that army units would not be called upon for assistance and they remained in reserve. At 7.30 p.m. the Governor ordered that a curfew be imposed in the area affected, to be in force from 9.30 p.m. until 5.30 a.m. the following morning.
21. By this time rioting had spread from San Po Kong westward to Tung Tau Resettlement Estate and eastward along the Choi Hung Road. Within this area marauding crowds roamed the streets, attacking buses, setting fire to cars and assaulting the Police with stones and bottles. By setting up road blocks and by breaking up the crowds by the use of tear gas the Police gradually brought the situation under control. The main resistance was centred at Tung Tau and, to a lesser
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