A major power outage hit the area around the French Riviera resort of Cannes on Saturday, the final day of the Cannes Film Festival.
The power cut began just after 10:00 a.m. local time (8:00 a.m. GMT) due to a fire in a substation in the nearby village of Tanneron. Police assume the cause was probably an arson attack.
However, the police spokeswoman was unable to say whether there was a connection between the incident and the film festival.
The French media reported that a pylon also fell onto a high-voltage power line in the morning. It is not yet clear whether the incident had a criminal background.
According to grid operator RTE, the power outage affected 160,000 homes in Cannes and the surrounding area.
The glitzy holiday destination has been hit by a power outage, causing traffic lights to fail and leading to traffic jams. The shops were closed on one of the main streets.
Teams from RTE and supplier Enedis are working to restore the network. It is still unclear when the power will be back on, French media reported, citing RTE.
Festival is not affected by outage
The Cannes Film Festival organizers said the closing ceremony would not be affected by the power outage.
The festival announced it had “switched to an alternative electricity power supply, which enables us to maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony.”
However, morning screenings at the festival’s cinemas were briefly interrupted while the supply switched to generators.
At the closing ceremony, scheduled to start at 16:40 GMT, French actress Juliette Binoche and her jury will announce the winners of the festival’s top prizes. Twenty-two films are competing for the Palme d’Or this year.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
