Authorities on the French Riviera announced on Sunday that they are stepping up security measures around power grid facilities following a night-time fire at a substation that left 45,000 people without electricity, as well as a large-scale power outage during the Cannes Film Festival, which authorities said was caused by sabotage.
According to preliminary estimates by the authorities, the incident may have been caused by deliberate action. The fire broke out at around 2 a.m. local time. At least 45,000 households were left without power.
The outage also affected Nice airport, the tram system and the nearby towns of Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer. Power was only restored in the morning.
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi strongly condemned the incident, calling it a “criminal act against the country.” Deputy Mayor Gaël Nofri said the fire was “probably of criminal origin.” According to local media reports, police found tyre marks and broken doors at the site.
The incident occurred the day after a large-scale power outage in Cannes, where an international film festival was taking place. Arson is also suspected in this case: about 160,000 homes were left without power and several screenings had to be cancelled. The festival was only able to continue thanks to the switch to generators.
There is no official confirmation of a link between the two incidents.
The large-scale power outage on April 28 affected the Iberian Peninsula and caused damage to the Spanish economy estimated at around €1.6 billion.
