Hong Kong police on Thursday expressed their confidence to end their clean-up operation in Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and return a safe campus on Friday.

More than 3,800 petrol bombs and 500 hazardous chemicals including 20 bottles of concentrated sulfuric acid and some explosive chemicals were found at the campus of PolyU as of 9 p.m. local time on Thursday, senior police official Chow Yat Ming said on a Facebook Live.

The police also claimed that they found 12 bows and crossbows, 200 arrows, one air rifle, and a total of 44 damaged vehicles on the campus.

According to police, facilities on the campus have been severely damaged and burnt residues and dangerous chemicals were placed all around the campus.

Chow reiterated that the focus of the operation is not to arrest any holdouts but on removing hazardous items and to gather evidence so as to return a safe campus to the school as soon as possible.

The clearing operation will resume on Friday morning as some of the work has to be done in daylight.

Earlier, a 400-strong safety team was deployed to clear the campus of dangerous articles, handle hazardous materials and conduct on-site evidence collection.

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