A woman surnamed Chan, who is a retail store assistant at the airport, told China Daily her employer asked that the shop be closed at 2:40 pm due to safety concerns. The usual closing time is 11 pm.

She said the store saw few customers these days. Chan said it was not easy for ordinary people to make a living and she hoped protesters could take people's livelihood into consideration first.

A tourist from Taiwan surnamed Lin was supposed to fly out of Hong Kong with her two children and an elderly relative on Monday. When interviewed by China Daily, Lin told the family's flight was rescheduled to take off at 4:30 pm on Tuesday.

Lin said the family had spent the night at the airport and was eager to go home as soon as possible as people were worried about their safety back home in Taiwan.

"The way to handle last night was chaotic," said Kate Flannery from Australia, who was travelling to Paris. "The airport authority didn't deal with the situation. I felt like I was walking around and nobody gave us information."