Tens of thousands of people gathered at the foot of the Atomium in Brussels on Tuesday evening to celebrate the transition to the new year and admire fireworks at the stroke of midnight.
According to an initial report communicated by the police of the Brussels-Capital Ixelles zone, there were 50,000 spectators gathered on the Heysel plateau to enjoy the event. “In Brussels, there were a lot of people. Around midnight, 50,000 people gathered to watch the fireworks“, communicated the police in a message posted on the X platform shortly after midnight.
The evening began with music with a DJ set from Chez Ginette. The pyrotechnics show was also accompanied by a mapping with lasers on the balls of the Atomium, the capital’s iconic building.
Vehicles on fire
Brussels firefighters had to intervene for several cars on fire in Brussels, where troublemakers also set fire to trash cans, containers and vegetation. The police had to intervene to secure the area so that firefighters could operate.
According to a report released shortly after midnight on New Year’s Eve, Brussels firefighters responded to nine cars on fire. In some places, several cars were set on fire at the same time. The fire was also put out to three electric bikes or scooters.
But the firefighters also had to intervene for 25 other fires in trash cans, containers, trees or brush, according to details communicated by the spokesperson for the Brussels firefighters, Walter Derieuw.
More than 60 arrests
The Brussels police also made dozens of arrests on New Year’s Eve, the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to an initial report released during the night. Between 6 p.m. and midnight, the police had to intervene more than 300 times.
Before midnight, the police had already made 64 administrative and judicial arrests. It was the West (24 administrative and 3 judicial) and Midi (19 administrative and 2 judicial) police zones which reported the most arrests.
The police also intervened 352 times, for incidents relating to normal service and New Year festivities, throughout the evening (between 6:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m.). It was also the police zones of the West and Midi districts which were the most requested with nearly 200 interventions (93 West and 73 Midi).
Fireworks ban and curfew
Note that on New Year’s Eve, young people under 16 in the Cureghem district could only go out accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The police deplore that despite the order of Minister-President Rudi Vervoort, fireworks were still used. The police of the Brussels-Capital Ixelles zone reminded again on Tuesday in view of the festivities that the sale, possession and use of firecrackers and fireworks were prohibited throughout the Brussels-Capital region. Offenders risked being fined, local police insisted.
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