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In some places the good mood turned into aggression
Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Because of a particularly strong onslaught of "spring break" celebrants, the city of Miami Beach has declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew.
The authorities announced on Saturday (local time) that it will apply in the main tourist areas of the city from 8 p.m.
Restaurants would then also have to close.
According to the police, there had been riots at the parties on the occasion of the US semester break in the past few days.
As the authorities announced, the three bridges to the mainland will also be closed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Exceptions only apply to residents, commuters and hotel guests.
According to media reports, the restrictions should initially apply for 72 hours.
Miami Beach in the US state of Florida attracts students from all over the country every year during the spring break.
Despite the corona pandemic, many young people had come in the past few days to celebrate wild parties in the beach metropolis.
Mayor Dan Gelber spoke of significantly more celebrations than in previous years.
"I think it's partly because there are very few places in the country that are open," Gelber said when the curfew was announced.
Raul Aguila of the city administration justified the curfew with concerns about public safety.
Looking at photos of the huge crowds on Ocean Drive, he said, “It looked like a rock concert.
You couldn't see the sidewalk or the grass. "
The situation could get out of hand in the face of the crowds, said Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements.
Social media users shared pictures of turbulent scenes that they claim to have happened on the night from Saturday to Sunday.
In the past few days, videos from restaurants in Miami Beach had spread on the Internet, in which guests had engaged in fights and caused major property damage.
In the chaos, many restaurant guests had disappeared without paying their bills.
On Friday the famous bar and hotel "The Clevelander South Beach" announced that it would temporarily close its restaurants and bars.
Police chief: "Tables and chairs were used as weapons"
There was an incident on Thursday evening in which "hundreds of people ran off at the same time," said Clements.
"Tables and chairs were thrown and used as weapons." There were three more incidents of this kind on Friday, in which a young woman was injured.
Students who had arrived reacted disappointed to the restrictions.
"It sucks," said John Perez, 22, from Texas, who was having a beer with a group of friends on the beach.
"It was so much fun here, you know, the warm weather, the beach," he said.
Jalen Rob, who also traveled from Texas, recommended that people get vaccinated against the corona virus.
Then you could have "a good time" in Florida.
Filmmaker Billy Corben published a video on the online service Twitter that showed a man standing on a car with a "Joker" face paint and a US flag shouting: "Covid is over, baby!"
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