Saboteurs sawed off the power transmission poles: in Cannes, a blackout on the closing day of the festival

The reason for the power outage in the western part of the French department of Alpes-Maritimes, including in In Cannes, there was an arson attack at one of the power plants, as well as the destruction of power transmission poles. This is reported by the France Info TV channel with reference to the data of the gendarmerie.

"The shutdown occurred after malicious actions aimed at the poles of power lines. The city of Cannes has suffered, but the closing ceremony of the festival will take place, as planned, at 6 pm," the channel reports.

On the night of Friday to Saturday, two arson attacks were recorded. According to the Ministry of the Interior, these two fires affected the Saint-Cassien power plant in Tannerone (Var), causing the first power outage for 45,000 customers. And several supports were cut down in Villeneuve-Loubet, Mougins and Cagnes-sur-Mer. According to the channel, electricity is gradually returning to 160,000 affected households in general. Traffic on several TER trains in the department remains disrupted.

The blackout caused problems at the Cannes Film Festival. The screening of the film "Sirat" was interrupted on the Croisette on Saturday morning, according to France 3 Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur. Currently, the Palais des Festivals is powered by generators — three generators will be used for the closing ceremony at 18.00, a France Inter journalist informs.