Dutch anti-lockdown protests turn violent after new curfew
Thousands of people in The Netherlands have come out against tougher Covid restrictions, namely the country’s first curfew since the Second World War, with police detaining around 240 people yesterday.
Protesters were detained after demonstrations turned violent and people looted shops, started fires and threw stones and fireworks.
Demonstrations hit at least 10 Dutch cities and towns across the country, with police using water cannons, dogs and mounted officers to disperse a protest in central Amsterdam.
Lockdown opponents also set fire to a Covid testing center in the sleepy fishing village of Urk.
The civil unrest came on the second day of the new restrictions, the first time the country enforced a curfew since World War Two.
The measure was instilled after a narrow vote in Parliament, last week, primarily to reduce the potential threat of the British Covid variant which caused a surge in cases in the UK.
New infections been steadily been declining for a month in the Netherlands, and continued to fall yesterday, at 4,924 new infections.