Tensions soar in Indonesia as protests over police brutality and lawmakers' allowances continue

Protests erupted for a fifth day Friday in multiple cities and tensions soared across Indonesia, a day after a delivery rider was allegedly run over by a police armored vehicle during clashes between riot police and students protesting lawmakers' allowances.

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Protesters marched to the headquarters of the police mobile brigade in the capital Jakarta on Friday, and some attempted to storm the compound. Police used water cannons and fired rounds of tear gas to push back the demonstrators, who hurled bottles, rocks and flares at them.

One group of rioters set fire to a five-story building near the police compound in Kwitang neighborhood of central Jakarta, causing several people to be trapped inside. Some students halted their protests to help soldiers and residents rescue those trapped.

Other protesters destroyed traffic signs and other infrastructure, causing traffic to come to a standstill in the area. Demonstrators also attacked police trucks and patrol cars and damaged several government offices in the unrest that soon led crowds to looting and burning vehicles.