Riot police clash with protesters at Hong Kong airport

HONG KONG (AP) — Riot police clashed with pro-democracy protesters at Hong Kong's airport late tonight, moving into the terminal where the demonstrators had shut down operations at the busy transport hub for two straight days.

Officers armed with pepper spray and batons confronted the protesters who used luggage carts to barricade entrances to the airport terminal.

Police took several people into a police van waiting at the entrance to the airport's arrivals hall.

Police said they tried to help ambulance officers reach an injured man whom protesters had detained on suspicion of being an undercover agent.

Protesters also detained a second man who they suspected of being an undercover agent. After emptying out his belongings, they found a blue T-shirt that has been worn by pro-Beijing supporters they said was evidence he was a spy.

Earlier in the day, authorities were forced to cancel all remaining flights as the city's pro-Beijing leader warned the protesters had pushed events onto a "path of no return."

After a brief period when flights were able to take off and land, the airport authority suspended check-in services for departing flights as of 4:30 p.m. Departing flights that had completed the process were able to continue to operate.

It said it did not expect arriving flights to be affected, although dozens were already canceled. The authority advised people not to come to the airport, one of the world's busiest.

More than 200 flights were canceled Monday and the airport was effectively shut down with no flights taking off or landing. Passengers have been forced to stay in the city while airlines tried to find other ways to get them to their destinations.