Media: 50 masked rioters attack tram, set barricade ablaze in Germany’s Dresden

About 50 masked individuals staged a riot in Dresden, Germany, on New Year’s night, throwing stones at a tram and setting fire to a barricade they had built.

A group of individuals erected a barricade using rubbish bins and a sofa, set it on fire, and threw stones at a tram while covering it with graffiti, German public broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk reports.

The incident occurred in the Neustadt district, a popular area known for its vibrant nightlife. 

Authorities recorded 19 incidents in the district on the night of January 1, including injuries to participants, 12 cases of vandalism, six fires, and one attack on police officers.

Germany’s major cities saw widespread violence, hundreds of arrests, and attacks on police and emergency services during New Year’s Eve, with Berlin reporting around 400 detentions and at least 24 officers injured amid fireworks assaults.

National reports show two young people died from pyrotechnic accidents in Bielefeld, and emergency responders were targeted with rockets and firecrackers in cities including Hamburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig and Munich.

In several German cities, such as Leipzig, fire brigades battled multiple blazes, and rubbish bins were set alight as police were attacked with fireworks, underscoring a pattern of disorder beyond isolated incidents.

Similar unrest spread across Western Europe during New Year’s celebrations, with the Netherlands reporting two fireworks‑related deaths, mass police confrontations, and destruction of a historic church amid “unprecedented” violence against emergency services.

By Jeyhun Aghazada