A 19-year-old died on Friday night in Brussels after he fled from police who were checking if he was obeying current lockdown measures.

The incident happened around 9:00 PM on Friday when a police patrol in Anderlecht noticed two teenagers on scooters and carried out an inspection due to current lockdown guidelines. Motorcycle or scooter driving is only allowed to go to and from work, according to the guidelines in the fight against the coronavirus.

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When they wanted to start the check, one of the riders immediately fled, and the police gave chase. “The police started the chase, but the patrol lost the young man when he drove away between some poles,” said Willemien Baert of the Brussels public prosecutor’s office, VRT reports.

The fleeing rider, however, was next seen on Quai de l’Industrie, where he crashed into a second police car while trying to overtake a van. “The scooter drove into the front left side of the patrol car and the young man was killed in the process,” Baert said in a widely published statement.

The public prosecutor will determine the exact circumstances of the accident, with experts called upon to assess the scene.

On Saturday afternoon, dozens of young people gathered to protest the police near the Clemenceau metro station and on the Place du Conseil d’État, at the town hall of Anderlecht.

The gathering degenerated into riots in which the police were pelted with stones and ultimately led to the arrests of several protesters.

The Brussels Times