MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Over 20,000 people have gathered in Frankfurt for an evening rally organized by the left-wing Blockupy movement to protest against austerity measures imposed by the European Central Bank (ECB), Blockupy said on its Twitter account.
#Frankfurt #18M #Blockupy demonstration at #AlteOper 20.000 +x partcipate pic.twitter.com/qR63CPkXqr
— Thomas Occupy (@ThomasOccupy) March 18, 2015
The current demonstration began at 5 p.m. local time (16:00 GMT).
The protesters reached Alter Oper opera house in the city center, singing in German, Italian, French and Spanish, the group said.
Friedlicher Protest MT @CTautz: Tausende singen — auf deutsch, italienisch, französisch, spanisch,… #Blockupy #M18 pic.twitter.com/Rv7NhxgK3f
— hr-iNFO (@hrinfo) March 18, 2015
Meanwhile, Frankfurt police said that the crowd were pelting stones at police officers in several streets, and lit smoking torches.
This is the second wave of protests organized by the Blockupy movement.
More than 90 police officers were wounded and over 100 protesters were affected by tear gas during the morning rally, according to various sources.
A spokesman for the Blockupy movement said that the protests staged by the group are "European" and added that half of the participants came from abroad.
