Police arrested seven rioters in The Hague on Saturday evening after youths set fires within the streets and threw fireworks at officers. The unrest got here a day after police opened fireplace on protesters in Rotterdam amid what the port metropolis’s mayor known as “an orgy of violence” that broke out at a protest towards coronavirus restrictions.
Elsewhere within the Netherlands, two soccer matches within the high skilled league needed to be briefly halted after followers — banned from matches beneath a partial lockdown in drive within the Netherlands for every week — broke into stadiums within the cities of Alkmaar and Almelo.
Earlier Saturday, two protests towards Covid-19 measures went off peacefully in Amsterdam and the southern metropolis of Breda.
Police mentioned in a tweet that seven folks had been arrested in The Hague and 5 officers had been injured. One wanted remedy in a hospital.
Local media outlet Regio 15 reported that rioters threw bicycles, wood pallets and motorised scooters on one of many fires.
The rioting in The Hague was on a smaller scale than the pitched battles on the streets of Rotterdam on Friday evening, when police mentioned that three rioters had been hit by bullets and investigations had been underway to determine in the event that they had been shot by police. Earlier police mentioned two folks had been hit. The situation of the injured rioters was not disclosed.
Fresh Covid riots hit the Netherlands — this time in The Hague. Rioters burned a moped and bikes and pelted police with stones and fireworks pic.twitter.com/PRu2emTmx3
— Danny Kemp (@dannyctkemp) November 20, 2021
Officers in Rotterdam arrested 51 folks, about half of them minors, police mentioned Saturday afternoon. One police officer was hospitalised with a leg damage sustained within the rioting, one other was handled by ambulance workers and “countless” others suffered minor accidents.
Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb advised reporters within the early hours of Saturday morning that “on a number of occasions the police felt it necessary to draw their weapons to defend themselves” as rioters rampaged by means of the port metropolis’s central purchasing district, setting fires and throwing rocks and fireworks at officers.
“They shot at protesters, people were injured,” Aboutaleb mentioned. He didn’t have particulars on the accidents. Police additionally fired warning pictures.
Police combing by means of video footage from safety cameras count on to make extra arrests.
Protests turned violent within the Netherlands as crowds in Rotterdam marched towards authorities plans to make a ‘coronavirus pass’ obligatory for some indoor venues https://t.co/zqTADgZZiW pic.twitter.com/N3haRtyRJQ
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 20, 2021
Photos from the scene confirmed at the least one police automotive in flames and one other with a bicycle slammed by means of its windshield.
Riot police and a water cannon restored calm after midnight.
It was one of many worst outbreaks of violence within the Netherlands since coronavirus restrictions had been first imposed final 12 months. In January, rioters additionally attacked police and set fires on the streets of Rotterdam after a curfew got here into drive.
Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus condemned the occasions.
“The riots and extreme violence against police officers, riot police and firefighters last night in Rotterdam are disgusting to see,” he mentioned in a press release.
“Protesting is a great right in our society, but what we saw last night is simply criminal behavior. It has nothing to do with demonstrating,” he added.
In this picture taken from video, demonstrators protest towards authorities restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic on Nov. 19, 2021, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Media TV Rotterdam through AP)
Police items from across the nation raced to Rotterdam to assist carry Friday evening’s state of affairs beneath management. Aboutaleb mentioned that gangs of soccer hooligans had been concerned within the rioting.
Video from social media proven on Dutch broadcaster NOS appeared to indicate one individual being shot in Rotterdam, however there was no rapid phrase on what occurred.
Police mentioned in a tweet that it was “still unclear how and by whom” that individual was apparently shot.
An unbiased investigation into the shootings by police was opened, as is the case each time Dutch police use their weapons.
The authorities has mentioned it desires to introduce a regulation that may permit companies to limit the nation’s coronavirus go system to solely people who find themselves totally vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19 — that may exclude individuals who take a look at unfavourable.
The nation has seen report numbers of infections in latest days and a brand new partial lockdown got here into drive every week in the past.
Local political occasion Leefbaar Rotterdam condemned the violence in a tweet.
“The center of our beautiful city has this evening transformed into a war zone,” it mentioned. “Rotterdam is a city where you can disagree with things that happen but violence is never, never, the solution.”
