BRUSSELS: Hundreds of mainly young Belgian party-goers gathered in a Brussels park on Saturday in defiance of coronavirus restrictions and police orders.

The so-called “Boum 2” protest, organised online, is a follow up to an action last month that was broken up by police with horses and water cannon.

Ahead of the event, Prime Minister Alexander de Croo had urged the crowds to stay away, and hundreds of officers were deployed.

By late afternoon, AFP reporters in the Bois de la Cambre, a large park in the city, saw fireworks set off and some missiles thrown as police moved in.

“We’re here to protect our freedom. Masks? I don’t wear them anymore. I want to be free,” said an 18-year-old high schooler from Flanders.

As a police car rolled onto the grass close to the heart of the gathering, the merry-makers chanted: “Freedom, Freedom.”