Rotterdam police open fire as Covid protest turns into ?orgy of violence?

Three people were being treated in hospital in Rotterdam on Saturday after they were seriously injured when police fired shots during a demonstration against Covid-19 restrictions.

In what the Dutch city's mayor described as an "orgy of violence", crowds of several hundred rioters torched cars, set off fireworks and threw rocks at police during the protests on Friday evening. Police responded with warning shots and water cannon.

Police said on Twitter on Saturday that 51 people had been arrested, about half of whom were under 18.

"Three rioters were wounded when they were hit by bullets, they remain in hospital," police added, in an update after earlier reporting two wounded.

The mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, told reporters in the early hours of Saturday morning that "on a number of occasions the police felt it necessary to draw their weapons to defend themselves" as rioters rampaged through the shopping district, starting fires and throwing stones and fireworks at officers.

"They shot at protesters. People were injured," Aboutaleb said.

Photos in Dutch media showed at least one police car on fire and another with a bicycle smashed through the windscreen. Police said city authorities had closed the city's main railway station.