New Year’s Eve in Brussels was eventful for local police officers who were “stoned several times by projectile jets“, said the communication unit of the Brussels Capitale-Ixelles police on Sunday.
In addition, fireworks were used despite the ban, and six cars were set on fire. The unrest led to the arrest of 160 people in the capital on New Year’s Eve.
The police also carried out 690 interventions, half of them having been covered by officers from the city centre, Ixelles and the West zone (Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Jette, Ganshoren, Berchem-Sainte- Agatha and Koekelberg).
The Fire and Emergency Medical Aid Service of the Brussels-Capital Region (SIAMU) for its part had to intervene almost 172 times (82 interventions by firefighters and 90 interventions by ambulances) and six times for vehicles on fire.
The police further note that there was “a lot of people” in the city center of Brussels on New Year’s Eve with “no less than 50,000 spectators who attended the fireworks” New Year’s Eve, according to the cell statement.
Access to the Place des Palais, with a capacity of 19,000 spectators, and to the Parc de Bruxelles, with a capacity of 13,000 spectators, had to be closed around 11:30 p.m. Access to the Grand-Place also had to be temporarily closed. “The police were visible on the ground to ensure the smooth running of this festive event”note the police who specify that “the security of the New Year’s festivities was coordinated by the Brussels Capital-Ixelles police zone, in perfect collaboration with the other Brussels zones as well as the federal police”.
Public transport in Brussels was also disrupted during New Year’s Eve, by order of the police or in the face of acts of vandalism, communicated the STIB via Twitter.