Carrie Lam says she will respect vote in which pro-democracy politicians are set to win control of 17 out of 18 councils

Hong Kong’s voters have turned out in record numbers to deliver a landslide for pro-democracy campaigners in local elections, handing them control of almost every one of the region’s 18 councils for the first time.

The results are a powerful rebuke to the government in a vote that was widely seen as a proxy referendum on the city’s protest movement.

Medics warn of humanitarian crisis as protesters trapped inside campus for sixth day

Hong Kong’s university siege stretched into a sixth day on Friday, as medics warned of a humanitarian crisis and the city prepared for weekend elections that will be a key barometer of public support for protesters.

The new police chief, who was sworn in on Tuesday after the Polytechnic University had already been sealed off, is apparently trying to avoid more violent confrontation.

People trapped inside campus are using increasingly desperate measures to escape

Yanny Man, 23, had no time to think about it before crawling over the ledge of a bridge, eight metres high, grabbing a rope and pushing off toward the ground below.

Behind her people shouted: “Just go, just go!” Police trying to stop them had paused from shooting teargas and were very likely to fire again.

Volunteers and supporters streaming towards Polytechnic University were fearful of what might befall the demonstrators

As hundreds of protesters were trapped inside a university on Monday night, besieged on all sides by riot police, thousands of Hongkongers rose up in protest, filling highways, public squares and bridges trying to get to them.

The streets of the city were turned into a war zone as protesters, alumni, volunteers and other supporters streamed toward Polytechnic University in Kowloon, where anti-government protesters have been under siege for more than 36 hours.

Hundreds trapped inside Polytechnic as demonstrators try to break campus siege

Hong Kong police have fought running battles with protesters trying to break a security cordon around a university in the city, firing teargas both at activists trying to escape the besieged campus and at crowds trying to reach it from outside.

Police have said the demonstrators inside Polytechnic University had no option but to come out and surrender.

Pro-democracy activists see move as effort by Beijing to intervene in HK’s affairs

On Saturday afternoon, a few dozen Chinese soldiers jogged out of their barracks in triple file line, wearing shorts and matching army green T-shirts. They cheerily joined a group of residents, clearing away road blocks set up by anti-government protesters, using brooms and plastic buckets.

One of the officers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), when asked by a local journalist what the group were doing, responded: “We volunteered! Stopping violence and ending chaos is our responsibility.” He shouted: “We are spreading positive energy!”