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25-05-2025
PARIS: French police were investigating a possible arson attack as being the main cause for a power outage which hit the Alpes-Maritimes region in southern France, including Cannes which is hosting its world-famous annual film festival.
“We are looking into the likelihood of a fire being started deliberately,” a spokesperson for the French national gendarmerie said on Saturday, adding that no arrests had been made at this stage.
The local authority for the Alpes-Maritimes region had said earlier on Saturday that the western part of the area, which includes Cannes, was suffering from a major electricity outage and that grid operator RTE France was working on restoring power.
The outage, which affected 160,000 homes, according to RTE and regional officials, started shortly after 10am local time (08:00 GMT) on Saturday.
Police sources said the outage was caused by an overnight fire, probably an arson attack, at a high-voltage substation in the village of Tanneron.
Traffic lights were knocked out and businesses closed on the main shopping street of the Alpes-Maritimes holiday destination.
Separate power outages swept across the Iberian Peninsula and parts of southern France on Monday, disrupting critical infrastructure and airport operations. Officials denied foul play.
While Spain and Portugal suffered blackouts last month, the French Basque Country saw brief power outages with interruptions lasting only a few minutes, according to the French electricity transmission network.
The latest outage came just hours before the 78th Cannes Film Festival is due to close on Saturday evening with an award ceremony at the Palais des Festivals.
Despite the power cut, festival organizers said switching to an alternative electricity power supply enabled them to “maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony”.
After a politically charged two weeks, a jury led by French actor Juliette Binoche is expected to announce the winners among 22 films competing for the Palme d’Or for best film.
This year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the genocide in Gaza and United States President Donald Trump were the biggest talking points at the festival. More than 900 actors and filmmakers signed an open letter denouncing the genocide in Gaza, according to the organizers.
Saturday was the last day of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which has been held in the town for 78 years, with the closing ceremony scheduled to take place in the evening.
The festival is using generators to ensure that screenings are still able to go ahead, French public broadcaster FranceInfo reported.
The Palais des Festivals, where Cannes’ main events take place, has “switched to an independent power supply, allowing all scheduled events and screenings, including the closing ceremony, to proceed as planned and under normal conditions,” the festival said in a statement, according to media.
Organizers of the festival told CNN affiliate BFMTV that there are “no worries” that the power outage will affect the closing ceremony, which will see the winners of the festival’s top prizes announced.
The outage affected two screenings on Saturday morning for about five minutes, then they resumed, the organizers said, according to BFMTV. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
