ZURICH: Swiss riot police clashed with party-goers trying to hold an illegal open-air rave in Zurich on Saturday night, and used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse them, witnesses and police said.
Around 80 people were arrested in the disorder, the latest in a string of clashes in the Swiss financial capital over the last week.
A crowd of mainly young people gathered close to Zurich's main railway station for the illegal party at around 11 p.m. and small groups repeatedly attacked police forces trying to disperse them, police said.
Some rioters threw stones from a nearby wall, damaged shop windows and cars and set waste bins on fire.
"Police had to use rubber bullets and irritant substances and arrested around 80 people," the police said in a statement, adding the cost of the damage could not be estimated yet.
"We are investigating the matter. We're not commenting further at the moment," police spokesman Adrian Feubli said. A press conference was to be held later on Sunday.
There have been a string of clashes in Zurich over the last week. On Saturday, anti-abortion demonstrators were confronted by left-wing activists who tried to prevent the marchers from reaching the city centre. Around 100 to 200 protesters skirmished with police, local media reported.
The Swiss news agency SDA reported that eight policemen were injured last week when about a thousand people gathered for an illegal party at Bellevue Square near Zurich lake in the heart of the city.
Clashes broke out when about 20 party-goers ignored a police order to climb off the roof of a tram stop.
Copyright Reuters, 2011
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