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Belgium: Police clash with April Fool's Day party crowd

April 1, 2021

Thousands defied COVID restrictions and showed up at the fake concert, which promised a performance by producer Calvin Harris and a one-off reunion of French band Daft Punk.

https://p.dw.com/p/3rW24
Crowds walk as police uses water cannons to disperse them
Police moved in to enforce the COVID-19 social-distancing rules that prohibit large gatheringsImage: Fran Seco/AP/picture alliance

Police on Thursday dispersed some 2,000 people gathered in the "Bois de La Cambre" park in Brussels in defiance of Belgium's coronavirus lockdown. 

People gathered for a fake concert dubbed "La Boum" (the party), although the organizers announced on social media that it was an April Fool's Day prank.

Hundreds of police, many in riot gear and some on horseback, used water cannon trucks and teargas to break up the crowds.

Police told the Associated Press that four people were arrested and three police officers were injured.

Many in the crowd pumped their fists and chanted "freedom" and some threw bottles and stones at the water cannon trucks.

A pile of trash with a sign that reads 'On nous empeche de vivre pour ne pas mourir' (we are prevented from living so as not to die) at the Bois de La Cambre in Brussels, Thursday 01 April 2021.
A sign read 'on nous empeche de vivre pour ne pas mourir' (we are prevented from living so as not to die) at the Bois de La Cambre in Brussels Image: Hatim Kaghat/BELGA/picture alliance

The party was announced on Facebook in March. Organizers promised a lineup of singer and producer Calvin Harris and a one-off reunion of French band Daft Punk.

"It’s crazy. We just came to the park an the next thing we knew it was going up in flames," one partygoer told DW. "It's not right that they have water canons and we're here with nothing — it's not okay."

"Maybe it's the wrong manner, the wrong way, but I think everybody needs to communicate," another reveler said. "Everybody needs to say how they feel."

'Gathering would not be tolerated'

Brussels Mayor Philippe Close said he understood that people need to get some fresh air, but such gatherings would not be tolerated. "We evacuated the wood. Those who do not obey police risk arrest and prosecution," Close said on Twitter.

The unusually sunny, warm weather has prompted crowds to gather in Brussels parks this week. 

Belgium has recorded at least 882,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 23,000 virus-related deaths. The rise in coronavirus cases has put pressure on hospitals in recent weeks. 

Current COVID restrictions in Belgium include a nighttime curfew, limited gatherings and a ban on nonessential international travel.

fb/sri (AFP, AP, Reuters)