A fire broke out at the reception location for asylum seekers in Loosdrecht on Tuesday evening after demonstrators threw torches. Rioters stopped two fire trucks, police said. The mayor has issued an emergency order due to ‘serious disturbances’.
Protesters have thrown flares and fireworks onto the grounds of the building. A flaming torch has been thrown onto the roof. As a result, the hedges just in front of the building caught fire. That caused flames that were meters high. The fire brigade was able to extinguish the fires.
The police Mobile Unit (ME) has been called in to get the demonstrators and rioters away from the town hall. One rioter has so far been arrested, police report.
Earlier in the day, the first asylum seekers arrived at the temporary emergency reception location in Loosdrecht. The exact time at which this would happen was kept secret by the municipality, ‘for the sake of privacy and security’.
70 asylum seekers are accommodated in an empty part of the town hall for a maximum of six months.
The municipality of Wijdemeren could not yet be reached for a response on Tuesday evening.
