The Ghent Festivities in the Belgian city of the same name have been plagued by riots and fights in recent nights. On Thursday evening, someone was in mortal danger after a fight. In the night from Friday to Saturday, a Dutchman knocked someone unconscious.
Belgian media call the night from Friday to Saturday restless. Then a record number of seventeen fights took place in the festival area, reports VRT NWS. A police spokesperson tells the Belgian broadcaster of an “outlier”. It was the busiest festival night so far with 220,000 visitors.
On other days, the average is three to eight incidents, he says. The police are present in the festival zone and can be on the scene quickly, but fights are never excluded, according to the spokesman. “Those incidents can be found on all squares, not specifically on the Korenmarkt or the Vlasmarkt,” he says.
According to HLN, riots escalated severely in a number of places after midnight. On the Korenmarkt in the heart of Ghent, a group of Dutch people got into a fight with other partygoers. One of the Dutchmen knocked a person unconscious. Red Cross workers patched up the victim again.
No arrests were made during the large fight on the Korenmarkt, reports HLN.
Man in mortal danger after fight on Thursday
A day earlier, things also went wrong on the Korenmarkt. Around 11:20 PM, a fight broke out there between two men. One of them was hit and fell hard, reports De Morgen. He suffered a bleeding head wound and was in mortal danger for a while. After treatment in the hospital, he was able to return home.
The police were able to arrive quickly and arrest a suspect. He was questioned at the police station, writes the Belgian newspaper.
On Wednesday, there was also a fight on the Korenmarkt. Four people were arrested.
The Ghent Festivities attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Saturday is the last party night, after which the popular festival comes to an end after a week.