400 Uninvited Guests Show Up to a Birthday Party in Belgium

blanden - A birthday party for a girl in the Belgian town of Blanden took an unexpected turn when about four hundred youngsters showed up at her house.

The police received a report around 10:30 pm from local residents who heard loud noises coming from the house in the town just south of Leuven. Officers who arrived found a group of about two hundred youngsters drinking alcohol and setting off heavy fireworks. The group grew to about four hundred people, who the girl and her parents ‘neither knew nor recognized,’ according to the commissioner.

Although initially not all youngsters were willing to leave voluntarily, the police did not have to intervene. With the help of officers from Leuven and the federal police, the youngsters were directed to a nearby parking lot, where their parents picked them up.

Invitations for parties spread through social media often go wrong. In 2012, youngsters flocked to Haren in Groningen after a girl mistakenly made her 16th birthday party visible to everyone on Facebook. The party resulted in riots, the resignation of the police chief, and prison and community service sentences for twelve troublemakers.