Chaotic scenes unfolded on Tuesday in the very heart of the Polish capital when the deadline for the shopkeepers to leave Kupiecki Dom Towarowy (KDT) – a discount “shopping center” consisting of shopkeepers selling wares at stands in a large, white, pre-fabricated aluminum structure right next to the Palace of Culture and Science – expired on the previous Saturday.

The city's bailiff was to officially close the shopping complex, when a number of people – both KDT shopkeepers and onlookers – crowded around of the center, in front of the Palace of Culture, Warsaw's most iconic landmark

According to TVN Warszawa, security personnel from the Zubrzycki security agency attacked the people inside by firing tear gas while trying to enter the center at just before 8 am. According to various media sources present at the site, women and children were inside.

A number of stones and glass bottles were thrown at the police officers standing outside KDT. It was not immediately clear if the projectiles were tossed by shop owners or some of the people who gathered near the protest.

12:40: Police officers tried to enter the building

13.00: Protesters sat on ul. Marszałkowska, the main road in front of KDT, and stopped traffic to and from the downtown area of the city

13.45: The riot police drove their water cannons into the crowd of protesters, with a number of people shouting "KDT. KDT"

14.30: “That land is required for the connecting hub of the first and second subway lines. Since January 1, the shopkeepers have illegally kept shop on Plac Defilad,” Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz told a press conference. She added that she is not planning to conduct further discussion with KDT representatives

15.00: Gazeta Wyborcza's online service reports that 30 people have been hospitalized after receiving injuries both outside and inside KDT

WBJ.pl will be updated with more information as the story develops