Netherlands: violent riots in Rotterdam following reintroduction of health measures

Riots broke out in Rotterdam on Friday evening following the reintroduction of health measures to combat the resurgence of Covid-19 cases.

© Media TV Rotterdam / AP

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2 min

In Rotterdam in the Netherlands, riots broke out on Friday evening on the sidelines of a demonstration against the health measures of the Dutch government.

Police fired warning shots and authorities speak of several injured.

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Hooded men, armed with sticks, ransacked police vehicles, including one on fire, and many other burnt objects such as bicycles and scooters: the images of the Rotterdam riots, widely reported by the Dutch media, show a center- city ​​plagued by clashes between rioters and police.

Shortly after 9 p.m., in a statement, the police indicated that they had fired warning shots.

Later, she will report seven wounded, including police officers, reports

,

.

At least one person was shot and wounded, according to local television, but it would still be difficult to determine whether or not it was police shooting.

Authorities say they have arrested dozens of people and called in police units from all over the Netherlands.

Sharp rise in Covid-19 cases

These riots took place on the sidelines of a rally of opponents of the government's health measures.

For a week, in the face of a sharp increase in reported cases of Covid-19 with more than 21,000 infections reported this Friday.

Masks have made a comeback in most closed places and every evening at 8 p.m., restaurants are forced to close.

►Also read: Covid-19: Europe again epicenter of the pandemic

The Netherlands were the first in Western Europe to reintroduce partial containment last week with a series of health restrictions, notably affecting the restaurant sector, to cope with an outbreak of Covid-19 cases.

Last January,

the Netherlands had already experienced its worst riots in four decades, including in Rotterdam, after a curfew came into effect.

Several thousand people are expected to attend protests in Amsterdam and the southern city of Breda on Saturday, local media say.

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• Netherlands

• Coronavirus

• Health and medicine