Traditional snowball fight turns into giant melee in Leipzig
A traditional snowball fight turned into a violent melee involving more than 500 people in the eastern German city of Leipzig, police said Tuesday, with fireworks, bottles and stones thrown into the mix.
A group of 40 people had gathered late Monday for an annual ritual that comes with the first snow of the season, but the scene at the city’s Connewitzer Kreuz intersection quickly degenerated into a massive free-for-all that required police intervention.
"The black-clad mob threw not only snow but also firecrackers, bottles and rocks," the police said in a statement.
Click here for photos of the winter weather chaos gripping Germany.
More than 500 people joined the fracas, snarling traffic and sparking a major police operation.
"Officers became the main target of the hooligans but a completely uninvolved car driver also fell victim, with the mob smashing his windscreen with a beer bottle and injuring his arm."
Two officers were wounded in the fray and a police car was damaged before the group could be broken up.
There have been several altercations between the police and leftists in the neighbourhood around Connewitzer Kreuz in the past and there was a massive snowball fight only last January that also descended into chaos.
AFP/DPA/The Local/mry
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A group of 40 people had gathered late Monday for an annual ritual that comes with the first snow of the season, but the scene at the city’s Connewitzer Kreuz intersection quickly degenerated into a massive free-for-all that required police intervention.
"The black-clad mob threw not only snow but also firecrackers, bottles and rocks," the police said in a statement.
Click here for photos of the winter weather chaos gripping Germany.
More than 500 people joined the fracas, snarling traffic and sparking a major police operation.
"Officers became the main target of the hooligans but a completely uninvolved car driver also fell victim, with the mob smashing his windscreen with a beer bottle and injuring his arm."
Two officers were wounded in the fray and a police car was damaged before the group could be broken up.
There have been several altercations between the police and leftists in the neighbourhood around Connewitzer Kreuz in the past and there was a massive snowball fight only last January that also descended into chaos.
AFP/DPA/The Local/mry
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