BEIJING - A reporter with a Hong Kong-based newspaper apologized on Friday afternoon to a Beijing policeman who he had injured after a scuffle at an Olympic Games ticket outlet.

Felix Wong, a South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper photographer, was released after he was taken away by police in the morning. He was escorted away from the scene after breaking through a barricade set up to control a crowd lined up to buy tickets and kicking a policeman in the groin, a Beijing municipal government information office spokesman said.

More than 30,000 people queued for the final chance to buy Olympic tickets near the National Stadium, aka the "Bird's Nest," at about 10:30 a.m. when the incident happened, the spokesman said.

"Police immediately informed the SCMP's Beijing bureau about the incident," he said. "At about 4 p.m., a bureau director and Felix Wong went to the hospital to visit the injured officer, Zhang Yuzhu."

"Wong made a sincere apology to Zhang and presented flowers," the spokesman said. "Wong has returned to his newspaper bureau. The bureau said it would cooperate with the investigation at any time," he added.

The fourth and final phase of Olympic ticket sales to the domestic public began on Friday morning with 820,000 tickets on offer.

The Games ticketing center said only tickets for competitions taking place locally would be available for purchase. That meant Beijing citizens could only buy 250,000 tickets for competitions in the capital area.