Paris, May 25, (dpa/GNA) – A power cut was reported in the southern French city of France on Sunday, one day after an outage disrupted the nearby Cannes Film Festival.
Almost 45,000 households in Nice were affected on Sunday morning due to a fire at a power station, with the coastal city’s mayor, Christian Estrosi, blaming “malicious acts” in a post on X.
Electricity was quickly restored, Estrosi said. French media reported that the public prosecutor’s office believes the offence was deliberate.
It is unclear whether the outage is linked to the power cut which hit Cannes early on Saturday, leaving some 160,000 households without electricity.
Authorities have suggested the cut was likely due to criminal activity, with a fire reported at a power station and a pylon falling onto a high-voltage line.
Power was eventually restored on Saturday afternoon and the awards ceremony at the celebrated film festival went on as planned, although some screenings were interrupted during the day.
Two self-styled anarchist groups claimed responsibility for the fire near Cannes and damage to the electricity pylon in a letter published online.
They said their intention was to disrupt the festival, and to cut the power to various businesses in the area and at the nearby airport.
The Draguignan public prosecutor’s office announced that the letter was being investigated.
GNA
PDC