Belgian Police Detain 240 at Clash Over Flanders Self-Rule
More than 240 people, most from Germany and France, were detained by Belgian police after riots broke out before a meeting supporting self-government for Belgium’s Flanders region, it was reported Sunday.
Police in riot gear, equipped with water cannons, horses and dogs, made repeated baton charges after they were pelted with chairs, tables and glasses.
The violence late Saturday erupted in Diksmuide, about 70 miles northwest of Brussels, when the crowd attacked police in an attempt to free 40 people arrested earlier, a police spokesman said.
A total of 244 were detained, including one American. Two extremists were taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
The foreigners were taken across the border by bus Sunday, the police spokesman said. The Belgians were to be released in batches at a safe distance from Diksmuide.
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