Like every year, it was busy in Ostend. Many people came to admire the end-of-year fireworks on the Groot Strand at midnight. Many revelers also start the new year in the entertainment district. And that went largely without problems and in a good atmosphere, reports the Ostend police.
“However, there were no major incidents on New Year’s Eve. The police teams on site were able to respond quickly and appropriately to any problems. A total of 9 people were administratively detained for disrupting public order and one person for public intoxication.” There were a total of 97 interventions, during the previous New Year’s Eve the police processed 107 interventions.
Despite the explicit call from the city and the police, the fireworks ban was not respected by everyone. A total of 21 reports were received of fireworks being shot off. The police were able to confiscate fireworks in 6 cases and issued a report in each case.