Scuffles broke out between protesters and police in Hong Kong on Thursday as hundreds of people remained on the streets to protest a planned extradition law with mainland China.This is coming a day after the Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators.

On Wednesday, police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray in a series of skirmishes to clear demonstrators from the legislature, with officials saying more than 70 people have so far been admitted to hospitals.

It was the third night of violence since a protest on Sunday drew what organizers said was more than a million people in the biggest street demonstration since the 1997 handover.

The protesters gathered in their numbers around the city’s legislature, the epicenter of the violence, with some of them rushing to stop police from removing supplies of face masks and food.

Uniformed police with helmets and shields blocked overhead walkways in Hong Kong’s financial district while plainclothes police officers checked commuters’ identity papers before allowing them to pass.

The protesters, some still wearing face masks and goggles in case police use tear gas again were joined by school children during the day but their numbers eased off later to a few hundred after a Legislative Council meeting to discuss the extradition bill was postponed.

The extradition bill, which will cover Hong Kong residents, foreign and Chinese nationals living or travelling through the city has sparked concerns that it may threaten the rule of law which underpins Hong Kong’s international financial status.

While the legislature remained closed, authorities shut government offices in the financial district for the rest of the week after some of the worst violence in Hong Kong since Britain handed it back to Chinese rule in 1997.

Most roads around the business district were opening for traffic but Pacific Place, a prime shopping mall located next to the legislature remained shut.

Banks, including Standard Chartered, Bank of China and DBS said they had suspended branch services in the area. Banks in the Central District opened for business but many offered their staff the option of working from home.

Hong Kong’s China-backed Chief Executive, Carrie Lam has condemned the violence and urged a swift restoration of order.

While acknowledging the controversy the proposed bill has raised, Lam refused to postpone or withdraw the bill which she and her officials say is necessary to plug ‘loopholes’ allowing the city to be a haven for criminals wanted on the mainland.

However, opponents including leading lawyers and rights groups argue that China’s justice system is marked by torture, forced confessions, arbitrary detention and limited access to lawyers.