Video: Police fire tear gas after Eritrean groups riot in The Hague; Police cars torched

Police officers in The Hague used tear gas in an attempt to quell rioting after a brawl broke out between two groups of Eritreans at the Opera conference hall on Fruitweg. A police car was also set on fire near the scene on Saturday evening. It is was not immediately known whether there were any injuries.

It is not yet known what caused the confrontation. Rioters pelted the police with large rocks, bicycles and traffic signs. According to Omroep West, bicycles, branches and fireworks were also thrown.

The windows of the conference center were smashed. The rioters were also trying to break inside, according to a reporter at the scene. The police were trying to protect the building. The fire brigade was dispatched to the scene, but left the area.

Two police vehicles were set on fire after the rioting broke out. Police officers and a riot squad drove people away using police vans, according to an ANP reporter at the scene. The situation was scaled up to a Grip 2 regional emergency, a protocol where all first responders on the scene coordinate under a single commander, and a regional response team sets up in an office further away.

The mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, gave police the authority to use tear gas, a police spokesperson confirmed after initial reporting from regional media outlet Regio15. Van Zanen also issued an emergency order for the area around Fruitweg, a spokesperson for the municipality of The Hague said.

The spokesperson said that the emergency order applies to a radius of 500 meters around the conference center. With the order, police can stop and screen anyone in the area, and then decide whether or not to sent them away. Anyone who does not leave can be arrested.

Transport company HTM said that tram 11 and bus 26 were being detoured by order of the police.