The town of Cannes, which is presently hosting its annual international film festival, was affected by a significant power outage that affected 160,000 residences in southern France on Saturday.
Alpes-Maritimes, a department in France, experienced a power outage that started at around 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET), according to authorities. According to an update from RTE, electricity was restored to the area at 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET).
According to officials, the disruption was intentionally induced.
In a Facebook post, Mandelieu-La Napoule’s mayor, Sébastien Leroy, said that the power loss appeared to be the result of a “double act of sabotage” southwest of Cannes.
An electrical substation in the nearby town of Tanneron caught fire at approximately 4:30 a.m. local time on Saturday. Later that morning, an electricity pylon sustained considerable damage, according to a statement from the Alpes-Maritimes local authority.
Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, reportedly strongly condemned these grave acts of harm.
The possibility that a fire was ignited on purpose is being investigated, a spokesman for France’s national gendarmerie told Reuters. As of now, the spokesperson said, no one has been arrested in relation to the power outage.
After 78 years in the city, the Cannes Film Festival wraps up this Saturday. The evening is reserved for the closing ceremony. As reported by FranceInfo, a French public channel, the festival utilised generators to ensure screenings continued uninterrupted.
The Palais des Festivals, where Cannes’ primary events are held, has switched to an independent power source. This change allows all scheduled activities and screenings, including the closing ceremony, to proceed as intended. The festival confirmed this in a statement, as reported by Reuters.
The festival’s organisers stated that there were no concerns that the ending ceremony, which would announce the victors of the top awards, would be affected by the energy outage. According to the organizers, two screenings on Saturday morning were interrupted for around five minutes before continuing, as reported by BFMTV.
