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Police in Brussels in the Bois de la Cambre
Photo: Francisco Seco / AP
For the second day in a row, the Belgian police broke up a meeting of hundreds of people in a Brussels park for violating corona rules.
With water cannons, horses and tear gas, the last larger groups were pushed out of the Bois de la Cambre on Friday evening, as a reporter from the German Press Agency observed.
Previously, people had been asked by loudspeaker to leave the park because of the violations of hygiene regulations.
In Belgium currently only groups of four people are allowed to meet outside.
A report by the Belga news agency mentioned eleven arrests.
There were no injuries, it said.
Bottles, branches and pyrotechnics had been thrown at the police officers, as the dpa reporter observed.
The last smaller groups were driven out of the undergrowth in the park with tear gas grenades and helmeted rescue workers.
According to police estimates, around 1,500 to 2,000 people gathered and celebrated in the park on Thursday after a call on the Internet.
In interviews, some said they came to protest against the corona measures.
Numerous police officers were injured in breaking up the mass meeting.
At least one officer was hit in the head and taken to the hospital, Belga reported, citing the police.
The number of corona infections in Belgium had risen dramatically in the past few weeks.
According to official figures, the 14-day incidence is now just under 550 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants.
As early as autumn, the country with 11.5 million inhabitants had at times one of the highest corona infection rates in Europe.
However, strict restrictions temporarily slowed the spread of the virus.
wal / dpa