Five policemen were injured in the accident Netherlands At least 40 people in three provinces were detained for violent protests Coronavirus disease The restriction lasted until the second night of Sunday.
The Dutch authorities used water cannons, police dogs and mounted police to stop young people in the riots. They set off fire and fireworks in the worst riot since the complete blockade in January caused widespread chaos and more than 500 people were arrested.
7 people were arrested in The Hague because protests against COVID-19 restrictions turned into violence
The most recent riot started in Rotterdam on Friday night. Police opened fire on the crowd. The city’s mayor said the protest had turned into “a violent carnival,” and the crowd had grown to hundreds.
A statement from the authorities said that the three people believed to have been hit by police bullets were still receiving treatment in the hospital on Sunday.
The protest was due to opposition to the government’s plan to restrict the use of the National Corona Pass to people who have recovered from COVID-19 or have been vaccinated, excluding those who tested negative.
The Netherlands re-imposed some lockdown measures on its 17.5 million population last weekend for the first three weeks to slow the resurgence of the virus, but the number of daily infections remained at the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic.
The ban on fireworks on New Year’s Eve also angered young people in order to avoid more pressure on hospitals that were forced to reduce the scale of care due to the surge of COVID-19 patients.
The police statement said that some of the worst clashes that took place on Saturday night occurred in The Hague, where five police officers were injured, one of whom was seriously injured. The police charged on horseback and arrested 19 people. One of them was arrested for throwing stones at the window of a passing ambulance.
Under stricter COVID-19 restrictions, two Eredivisie matches were closed to the public. On Saturday night, a small group of fans forcibly entered the stadium and threw fireworks. The game was briefly interrupted.
The police reported 13 other arrests in two towns in the southern province of Limburg, while the northern province of Flevoland also reported riots. Earlier this year, eight people were detained in the town of Urk, where a COVID-19 testing station was burned down. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; additional reporting by Stephanie van den Berg and Bart Meijer; editing by Kirsten Donovan)
View link »
