An anti-G7 protest in Geneva began in a carnival atmosphere on Sunday before descending into violence, with building facades smashed in and police firing tear gas at masked youths.
The day started in tranquil fashion: ahead of the march, people gathered in a park overlooking Lake Geneva, seeking shade from the blazing afternoon sun and catching up with friends as they arrived.
The atmosphere was festive, with people singing and dancing and putting the final touches to their placards, bearing slogans like "G7 = racket. Make anti-imperialism great again".
However, the peaceful protest turned violent as masked, hooded individuals, many dressed all in black, merged in along the route.
A Tesla car went up in flames, and demonstrators lit flares, causing the march to come to a halt.
The Geneva offices of the professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers came under sustained attack, with repeated attempts to stave in the windows and metal shutters ripped off.
The police swiftly responded with tear gas, sending people running back into oncoming protesters.
Several glass panels surrounding the memorial to staff from the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR were also damaged and sprayed in graffiti.
The nearby International Telecommunication Union, the UN's telecoms agency, had its front doors smashed up.
As the march returned to the park where it began, tram stops were shattered, and flares were hurled towards the police, who responded with several rounds of tear gas.
The Geneva cantonal police said they had made "several arrests", adding after sunset that "no injuries have been reported so far".
