New world news from Time: Hong Kong’s Political Crisis Worsens After the Worst Day of Violence in Decades

Hong Kong is struggling to come to terms with its worst unrest in more than 50 years, after thousands of black-clad protesters rampaged across the city Tuesday, fighting battles with police, setting fires in government offices and smashing the premises of businesses and politicians with mainland Chinese connections.

An 18-year-old protester was shot by police and is in hospital in stable condition. According to official figures, 25 police officers and 66 protesters were injured and 180 people arrested in the violence, which saw protesters attack the police with petrol bombs, rocks, poles and other homemade weapons. Police responded with tear gas and water cannon but appeared unable to control the disturbances, which erupted in multiple districts across Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon peninsula and the suburban New Territories.

The government issued a statement condemning “online orchestration of violent acts in various districts across the territory” and what it called “very dangerous riots.” It accused those behind the disturbances of “leading Hong Kong to a chaotic and panic [sic] state.”

The police also issued a statement saying “Public safety has been jeopardized and the public order of the whole city is being pushed to the verge of a very dangerous situation.”

Democratic lawmaker Claudia Mo told TIME that “This is just becoming so chaotic that I don’t know how we can carry on like this. Violence breeds violence. You can sense the anger and hostility and desperation of the young in particular.”

She called for the resignation of the enclave’s deeply unpopular top official. “I personally wish Carrie Lam would just quit,” Mo said. “We need a different face to lead Hong Kong. Whoever that is, there just may be a chance to restart things.”

Protesters, who are demanding greater political freedom for Hong Kong, chose China’s national day to unleash their most determined attack yet. Shortly after dignitaries watched the official flag raising ceremony behind closed doors, tens of thousands of people defied a police ban to march through the city’s downtown areas calling for an end to Beijing’s authoritarianism. The Chinese flag was burned, images of China’s president Xi Jinping defaced, and the anthem of the enclave’s democratic rebellion, “Glory to Hong Kong,” was sung.

Much of the city was in lockdown. Malls pulled down their shutters, almost half of the city’s subway stations were closed, and streets that would normally be thronged with shoppers and strolling families were deserted in anticipation of trouble.

By the mid-afternoon, the peaceful march turned into street occupations. Hardline protesters erected barricades and fought running battles with police across a dozen districts. Others began smashing and vandalizing storefronts. Fires were lit across the city. Two regional government offices were seriously damaged and multiple subway stations came under attack by protesters who accuse the train system’s operator of colluding with police.

Many are now wondering if the government will impose emergency powers to keep order.

“Yesterday marked a watershed towards more violence used by both protesters and the police. It seems the level of violence will continue and it could be raised by both sides,” said Willy Lam, adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Center for China Studies.

“What happened yesterday has boosted the possibility that at least parts of the [emergency powers] ordinance might be used, because things seem to be spinning out of control,” he told TIME.

Lam added that Beijing could also expect to take a tougher line with the territory, which was retroceded to China in 1997 after 156 years of British colonial rule.

He said that in early September Zhao Kezhi, China’s top police officer, was appointed to a senior position in the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.

“This is a very ominous sign,” Lam said, “that the top cop in China has been given control of Hong Kong affairs.”

Hong Kong has been roiled by four months of protest. Early demonstrations against a now withdrawn extradition bill, which would have allowed the rendition of fugitives to mainland China for the first time, quickly grew into a democratic rebellion against the unpopular local government. Many protesters are also calling for self-determination or independence for Hong Kong.

—With reporting by Amy Gunia / Hong Kong