The blackout in southern France is sabotage

Cannes / BarcelonaThe temporary blackout that occurred this Saturday in southeastern France and the Cannes area is being investigated as sabotage. Damage. There was a tower with one of its four legs pinched. The outage has left 160,000 homes in the dark in the area bordering Italy. The most important event in European cinema, which is being covered by hundreds of international journalists. Mobile phone signals also immediately went down. People on the terraces and strolled along La Croisette. It was a splendid day and there was no sense of alarm, despite the police officers on the streets, which is common during the festival.

criminal," said the mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard. The Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation, and police headquarters stated that "all means have been mobilized to identify, search for, arrest, and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts."

The festival organizers immediately announced that the festival's programming and closing ceremony would go ahead at the official venue, the Palais des Festivals, where screenings continued in the Grand Théâtre Lumiére and in the Bazin, Debussy, and Buñuel halls, thanks to emergency generators. The photocalls and the press conferences, for example of the film The mastermind, with Josh O'Connor, the latest sensation of the festivalThe remaining Cannes screenings have been cancelled.

The train stations were also without power, and train delays were expected until 8 p.m. Firefighters carried out hundreds of operations, primarily to rescue people trapped in elevators.