Police in Binh Thuan Province announced that they have detained 102 people pending investigation into Sunday’s vandalism at the local government office.

“There were no casualties. But dozens of police officers were injured,” police spokesman Nguyen Van Nhieu said.

Hundreds of protestors had stormed the office of the People’s Committee in Binh Thuan on Sunday, burnt vehicles, destroyed other property and clashed with the police, authorities said.

The situation was resolved near midnight with help from forces from the Ministry of Public Security, Nhieu said.

The vandalizing of the office took place at around 8 p.m., and authorities could only watch helplessly.

A police offcer walks past burned motorbikes outside Binh Thuan’s People’s Committee office on Monday. Photo by VnExpress

Earlier that night, authorities used smoke bombs and firefighting hoses to diffuse the protest after local officials could not convince the crowd to disperse, but such tactics also proved ineffective.

Nguyen Trung Truc, vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Tuy Phong District, said that traffic patrols had to direct vehicles to take detours because Highway 1A had been immobilized from the afternoon. Some of the protestors threw rocks at public vehicles.

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