Protesters burn down McDonald's restaurant

01 January 2000
Protesters burn down McDonald's restaurant

Fast-food giant McDonald's has once again been the target of animal rights activists in Belgium with an arson attack last week.

The attack in the early hours of last Thursday gutted the restaurant in Merksem, a suburb of Antwerp. It is the latest in a spate of attacks on fast-food outlets in Belgium.

Marc Daemen, head of McDonald's operations in Belgium, said that the company is trying to find alternative work for the restaurant's 30 employees.

"We are very shocked and saddened. Fortunately, nobody was present or hurt in the incident but we regret the consequences for the employees," he said.

The attacks are in protest against the killing of animals and the destruction of tropical forests for cattle breeding. The McDonald's site was daubed last week with the initials of the British-based Animal Liberation Front.

Last year several restaurants in Belgium were severely damaged in similar incidents. One grisly incident involved the dumping of a disinterred corpse on the street outside a McDonald's (Caterer, 19 November 1998, page 10).

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