It was the last year before an expected ban on unofficial fireworks, so the Dutch bought them in massive quantities.
According to the Dutch Pyrotechnics Association, revellers splashed out a record 129 million euros (US$151 million) on fireworks.
Some areas had been designated firework-free zones, but this appeared to have little effect.
An AFP journalist in such a zone in The Hague reported loud bangs until around 3am (10am, Singapore time).
In Belgium, meanwhile, police made scores of arrests as officers in both Brussels and Antwerp were targeted with fireworks – with a New Year’s ban on their use failing to prevent chaotic scenes in both major cities.
Police used tear gas and arrested more than 100 people in the port city of Antwerp, where minors as young as 10 or 11 targeted officers and emergency services with fireworks and stones, setting fire to bikes, cars and trash cans, a spokesperson told AFP.
Authorities confiscated a number of “very dangerous” professional grade fireworks, the spokesperson said. A 12-year-old child was seriously injured in a fireworks incident in the northern city.
Likewise in the capital Brussels, police said they were “repeatedly” targeted with fireworks, making some 70 arrests overnight.
In Germany, two 18-year-olds died in the western city of Bielefeld when they set off home-made fireworks that produced “deadly facial injuries,” local police said in a statement.
