CANNES, France (AP) — French authorities consider arson could have performed a task in an influence outage Saturday in southeast France that threatened to jeopardize the Cannes Movie Pageant’s closing celebrations, together with the much-anticipated Palme d’Or ceremony.
Energy was restored hours earlier than the ceremony, round 3 p.m. native time, as music started blasting once more from beachfront audio system. The tip of the blackout was greeted with loud cheers from locals.
Authorities have been investigating the probability of arson in a fireplace at {an electrical} substation close to Cannes that weakened the grid in a single day, a spokesperson for the French nationwide gendarmerie stated.
The facility outage occurred hours later, after a high-voltage line fell at one other location. Authorities have been investigating what prompted that line to break down.
About 160,000 households within the Alpes-Maritimes space misplaced electrical energy.
In an announcement, Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect for the world, condemned “serious acts of damage to electrical infrastructures.”
“All resources are mobilized to identify, track down, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts,” stated Hottiaux.
Cannes Movie Pageant organizers confirmed the outage affected the early actions of Saturday and stated the Palais des Festivals — the Croisette’s essential venue — had switched to an impartial energy provide.
“All scheduled events and screenings, including the Closing Ceremony, will proceed as planned and under normal conditions,” the assertion stated. “At this stage, the cause of the outage has not yet been identified. Restoration efforts are underway.”
Site visitors lights in components of Cannes and the encompassing metropolis of Antibes stopped working after 10 a.m., resulting in visitors jams and confusion in metropolis facilities. Most retailers alongside the Croisette remained closed, and native meals kiosks have been solely accepting money. Prepare service in Cannes was additionally disrupted.
Screenings on the Cineum, one of many pageant’s satellite tv for pc venues, have been briefly suspended, the pageant added.
The Palme d’Or — the pageant’s most prestigious prize — was set to be awarded Saturday night time, with prime contenders together with Joachim Trier’s household drama “Sentimental Value,” Jafar Panahi’s revenge thriller “It Was Just an Accident,” Kleber Mendonça Filho’s political thriller “The Secret Agent,” and Óliver Laxe’s desert street journey “Sirât.”
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