Malines' city hall and courthouse pelted with Molotov cocktails

In Malines, the courthouse and city hall were pelted with a Molotov cocktail on Thursday evening. According to the Antwerp public prosecutor's office, the damage was limited. For now, there is no trace of the perpetrators and no clarity on the motive.

"From the first findings, it appears that it would have been Molotov cocktails," Lieselotte Claessens of the Antwerp public prosecutor's office told VRT NWS. An entrance hall window is damaged at the city hall, while the damage to the courthouse is more extensive than first thought.

"The Molotov cocktail was thrown over a wall up to a roof, causing a cable of the building's extraction system to start smouldering and damaging some electricity and network cables." As a result, the cell complex, where prisoners are waiting for the hearing they have to attend, is unusable. "Therefore, prisoners will not be transferred to the court building today, which will affect the sessions of the council chamber."

A third Molotov cocktail, detonated elsewhere in the city, caused no damage. The police launched an investigation. The lab also came to the scene. For now, there is no trace of the perpetrators and no clarity on the motive.

^{#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS}