URK, Netherlands (AP) – Young people protesting on the first night of a Dutch curfew set fire to a coronavirus testing facility and threw fireworks at the police in a Dutch fishing village.
Police said on Sunday that they fined more than 3,600 people across the country for violating the curfew from 9 pm on Saturday to 4:30 am on Sunday and arrested 25 people for violating the curfew or for violence.
Video of the village of Urk, 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Amsterdam, showed young people breaking into the coronavirus testing facility near the village’s harbor before it was set on fire Saturday night.
The police and the municipality issued a statement on Sunday expressing their anger at the disturbances, “from the launch of fireworks and stones to the destruction of police cars and the burning of the test site as a deep spot”.
“This is not only unacceptable, but also a slap in the face, especially for the staff of the local health authority who do everything they can at the test center to help the people of Urk,” said local officials, adding that the touch curfew would be strictly enforced for the rest of the week.
On Sunday, all that was left of the portable building used to administer the coronavirus tests was a burned carcass.
Police in Amsterdam also prepared for another protest on Sunday, sending police to a square where protesters clashed with police a week ago. The city council designated the square as a “risk area”, a measure that gave the police extra powers to search people.
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Associated Press writer Mike Corder contributed from Otterlo, The Netherlands.
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