There have been chaotic scenes on the Bruzgi-Kuźnica border crossing, the place crowds of migrants may very well be seen breaking apart concrete blocks and gathering tree branches to throw towards the Polish facet.
Loud bangs rang out over the crowds and a dense cloud of smoke hung overhead. Belarusian state media BeITA reported that the water cannons utilized by Polish forces sprayed a yellow liquid that precipitated burning, and that individuals have been suffocating and feeling sick from the smoke. A CNN staff was hit by the water fired by Polish guards.
One police officer was severely injured after being hit by a projectile, based on the Polish police.
Ladies and kids who, only a day earlier than, had been camped out in tents close to the border fence had moved again, and males, lots of them voicing their anger about being left in limbo in terrible situations, have been amassing in probably the most dramatic clashes to this point. “We’re combating to remain alive,” one man informed CNN.
The Polish Border Guard mentioned Tuesday that migrants camped out close to the Bruzgi-Kuźnica checkpoint have been behaving “aggressively,” throwing stones and numerous objects on the Polish companies. “So as to stop unlawful border crossing, water cannons have been used in opposition to aggressive foreigners,” the safety company mentioned on Twitter.
The spokesperson for Poland’s safety companies, Stanisław Żaryn, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday in regards to the clashes, describing migrants as “storming the border.”
BelTA reported “an aggravation of the state of affairs” on the border on Tuesday, as migrants attempt “by all means to get to Poland” and Polish authorities reply with tear fuel, stun grenades and water cannon, “pouring water on folks within the chilly.”
“Individuals say they’re uninterested in ready and are prepared to interrupt by means of,” based on BeITA.
It is unclear what sparked Tuesday’s confrontations however there’s a rising sense of frustration amongst migrants that Europe just isn’t welcoming them.
Rumors have additionally been swirling over the previous 48 hours within the camps the place the migrants are situated that Poland was ready to open its humanitarian hall — a declare Poland says just isn’t true.
President Alexander Lukashenko’s authorities has repeatedly denied such claims, as a substitute blaming the West for the crossings and accusing it of poor remedy of migrants.
Matthew Likelihood and Antonia Mortensen reported close to the Poland-Belarus border, and Katharina Krebs reported from Moscow. Eliza Waterproof coat wrote from London.
