Under the night, there was a tense standoff in the city between police equipped with water cannons and the hundreds who had gathered. Despite the standoff, fireworks, bricks and bottles were thrown at the police – of which two bottles were Molotov cocktails, according to AFP's reporter on the scene.
Some of those affected by the violence have been evacuated to a leisure center in a nearby town, which was set on fire by masked individuals on Wednesday night. No one is reported to have been inside the building at the time of the attack, according to the newspaper Belfast Telegraph.
The disturbances broke out on Monday after a peaceful demonstration in support of a girl who is believed to have been subjected to a rape attempt.
Six people were arrested on Wednesday night.
Three teenage boys between 15 and 18 years old are to be formally charged with rioting on Thursday, according to the police.
The deputy police chief Ryan Henderson has called the disturbances that have now spread to more towns "racist violence". Residents in Ballymena, which has a large migrant population, have put up flags on their houses indicating the nationality of the residents, or hung up British flags.
Representatives of both the unionist party DUP and the nationalist party Sinn Fein have called for calm.
