Dutch police said they arrested more than 200 people on New Year’s Eve during riots across the country that left dozens injured.
According to the NOS TV channel, fireworks and stones were thrown at law enforcement officers in several cities of the country, while a police spokesman said that there were many serious incidents and “unacceptable” violence during the night.
Rotterdam police said more than 100 cars and other vehicles were set on fire in the city. In Amsterdam, The Hague and other cities, special forces were needed to disperse the aggressive crowd.
The latter are also said to have been used across the country to assist firefighters who were pelted with fireworks as they tried to put out numerous fires.
Earlier it was reported that during New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands, at least one person died and at least two dozen were injured of various degrees of severity due to accidents involving the launch of fireworks.
In the Netherlands, fireworks are allowed from 6:00 p.m. on New Year’s Eve until 2:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day. Some cities have implemented their own bans, but many do not follow them.
Injuries from the use of fireworks were also reported in other European countries, such as Denmark and Finland. In Germany, on New Year’s Eve, an 18-year-old boy died as a result of an explosion of fireworks, and in Berlin alone, 390 people were detained on New Year’s Eve, and about 720 pre-trial proceedings were initiated.
More than 200 people were detained in France on New Year’s Eve, but the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs called the situation “generally peaceful”.