A power outage in southeast France, suspected to involve arson, disrupted the Cannes Film Festival's final celebrations, including the Palme d'Or ceremony. The blackout affected around 160,000 households in the Alpes-Maritimes region, with power restored hours before the ceremony. Investigations are ongoing regarding a fire at an electrical substation and the collapse of a high-voltage line. Despite initial chaos, festival organizers confirmed that events would proceed as scheduled, using an independent power supply.
"Authorities were investigating the likelihood of arson in a fire at an electrical substation near Cannes that weakened the grid overnight," said a spokesperson.
"All resources are mobilized to identify, track down, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts," stated Laurent Hottiaux.
"The Cannes Film Festival organizers confirmed the outage affected the early activities of Saturday and said the Palais des Festivals had switched to an independent power supply."
"Traffic lights in parts of Cannes and the surrounding city of Antibes stopped working after 10 a.m., leading to traffic jams and confusion in city centers."
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