Miami Beach imposes curfew as uncontrollable spring break crowds wreak chaos
- For the next 72 hours, visitors will have to leave streets and restaurants will close their doors at 8pm in the main tourist areas of South Beach
- Revellers also trashed restaurants which caused serious damage in addition to prompting diners to flee without paying expensive bills
Throngs of revellers flocking to Miami Beach, Florida for spring break have become so uncontrollable that authorities imposed a curfew on Saturday they hope will spoil the party.
For the next 72 hours, visitors will have to leave streets and restaurants will close their doors at 8pm in the main tourist areas of South Beach, the epicentre of the city’s party scene, authorities announced.
In addition, the three bridges that connect the island with mainland Miami will be closed to traffic from 10pm.
Only residents, workers and hotel guests will have access.
“This is all about the public safety folks,” said acting City Manager Raul Aguila.
Referring to photos of huge crowds gathering on the main Ocean Drive strip, he added: “It looked like a rock concert. You couldn’t see pavement and you couldn’t see grass.”