Sunday 21 November 2021
Burning barricades and firecrackers
Corona protests escalate in Brussels
Tens of thousands of opponents of the corona measures take to the streets in the Belgian capital. This leads to riots. Some demonstrators attacked the police, who responded by using water cannons, among other things.
In Brussels, tens of thousands of people protested against the corona measures imposed by the government. According to an AFP reporter, the demonstration began peacefully, but later riots broke out near the government district in the Belgian capital. Police used water cannons and tear gas against a group of demonstrators who threw objects at officers.
Pictures distributed by the Belga news agency showed police cars with broken windows, burning barricades and the use of pyrotechnics. She announced in the early evening that she wanted to arrest troublemakers. Videos on Twitter showing the protests show how fireworks and other projectiles were used against the police and street battles with the security forces.
According to the police, around 35,000 people took part in the demonstration. They protested against the tightening of the corona rules announced by the government on Wednesday. Her anger was directed against the fact that unvaccinated people are no longer allowed to go to restaurants and bars. The demonstration had been approved by the city of Brussels, said a police spokeswoman, according to Belga in the afternoon. Together with the law enforcement officers, a route to the European quarter of the Belgian capital had been determined.
The police use water cannons and tear gas.
(Photo: dpa)
In order to break the new corona wave in Belgium, the government is also relying on teleworking and increasing the vaccination of children. Where possible, employees must work from home for at least four days a week from Monday. Belgium is also expanding the vaccination campaign to five to eleven year olds.
Similar to Germany, the number of corona infections in Belgium had risen significantly in the past few weeks. Most recently, an average of more than 12,000 new infections per day were recorded in the country with around 11.5 million inhabitants.