Seven arrests after violent clashes across Netherlands after police open fire on protesters

21 November 2021, 08:16 | Updated: 21 November 2021, 08:28

Bikes were thrown onto fires started by anti-restriction protesters in the Netherlands. Picture: Getty

By Daisy Stephens

Seven rioters have been arrested at anti-restriction demonstrations in the Netherlands that saw police open fire at protesters.

Protesters started fires in the streets and threw fireworks and other objects at officers in The Hague.

It came a day after police opened fire on protesters in Rotterdam in what the port city's mayor called "an orgy of violence", that broke out at a protest against coronavirus restrictions.

Rioters through bicycles, wooden pallets and motorised scooters on one of the fires, according to local media outlet Regio 15.

Seven people were arrested in The Hague and five officers were injured, one of whom needed hospital treatment, according to a tweet from police.

The rioting in The Hague was on a smaller scale than the battles on the streets of Rotterdam on Friday night, when police said that three rioters were hit by bullets and investigations were underway to establish if they were shot by police.

A number of officers were injured at Friday's protest as well, and 51 people were arrested, according to police.

Photos from the riots in Rotterdam showed at least one police car in flames, and another with a bicycle slammed through its windscreen.

Rioting in Rotterdam after Dutch government tightens pandemic restrictions

Elsewhere in the Netherlands, two football matches in the top professional league had to be briefly halted after fans - banned from matches under a partial lockdown in force in the Netherlands for a week - broke into stadiums in the towns of Alkmaar and Almelo on Saturday.