Hungarian police fire water cannon, tear gas at migrants

Hungarian police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesting migrants demanding they be allowed to enter from Serbia on Wednesday on the second day of a border crackdown.

A Reuters reporter said hundreds of riot police, backed by special anti-terrorist units with armoured vehicles and water cannon, advanced towards a crowd of migrants at the Roszke border crossing. The migrants were the other side of a metal fence built by Hungary's right-wing government to keep them out under a crackdown launched on Tuesday.

Police issued a statement accusing "aggressive" migrants of breaking through the fence. A United Nations official at the scene said the migrants did not appear to have breached the barrier. A spokesman for the Hungarian government said the migrants were "armed with pipes and sticks". Reuters reporters did not see any armed migrants but television pictures showed some people throwing objects at police over the fence.