The police in Brussels announced it has started evacuating crowds from Bois de la Cambre and has deployed several water cannon as the unauthorised "La Boum 2" event taking place in the park on Saturday got out of hand.
Around 5:25 PM, the police announced via Twitter that they would evacuate the park as the coronavirus fighting measures were not being respected. This message was followed by the first charges and the use of tear gas and water cannons.
Wij stellen vast dat de sanitaire maatregelen niet worden gerespecteerd in het #Terkamerenbos@zpz_polbru zal overgaan tot ontruiming van de plaats. Nous constatons que les mesures sanitaires ne sont pas respectées #BoisdelaCambre#zpz_polbru va procéder à l'évacuation des lieux
— PolBru (@zpz_polbru) May 1, 2021
One participant of the event was blown over by the jet of water cannon, and was temporarily left unconscious.
Thousands of people gathered during the afternoon as police, dressed in combat gear, were on stand-by in long lines around the park for crowd management, and drones were deployed over the area to monitor the ongoing situation and to encourage people to abide by the coronavirus fighting measures.
As police vans started driving through the busiest parts of the park around 4:00 PM, some small fights started breaking out and the vans were attacked with sticks, and half an hour later, the police started clearing the area as water cannons drove through the crowds.
Most attendees were not wearing face masks and failed to respect social distancing measures, and at times, firecrackers exploded and smoke bombs were set off.
Shortly after the water cannons were dispersed, the field was almost cleared, however, crowds were seen starting small incidents around the main field. Many participants said the action taken by the police disproportionate, according to reports from De Morgen.
For a recap of the events that led up to La Boum 2, click here.
