AMSTERDAM (NETHERLANDS) – Rioters were seen looting stores, set ablaze and had a clash with police in several Dutch cities on Sunday, which resulted in the arrest of more than 240 arrests, police and Dutch media reported.
The series of events leading to unrest occurred on the second day of new, tougher coronavirus restrictions, which includes a night curfew, prompting demonstrations.
Nearly 200 people, some of them throwing stones and fireworks, were detained, police said.
National broadcaster NOS said riot police had been put on charge in at least 10 cities and towns after a curfew was imposed at 9 pm. (2000 GMT).
Military police said on Twitter on Sunday night that they are extending al their support to local police in at least two cities in the south.
Images on Dutch television had bands of youths looting shops, throwing bicycles and setting fires in the southern city of Eindhoven. At least 55 people were taken under arrest in Eindhoven, the city said in a statement.
The demonstration in the city’s Museum Square, which violated a ban on public gatherings, came after the government introduced a nightly curfew for the first time since World War Two.
Parliament voted narrowly last week to approve the curfew, going by assertions that a UK variant of COVID-19 was about to lead to a new surge in cases. New infections in the country have generally been coming down for a month, and fell again on Sunday, to 4,924 new cases.
There have been 13,540 deaths in the Netherlands from COVID-19 and 944,000 infections.
