By Euronews
Published on
Following the Cannes festivities, the city of Nice experienced a power outage on Saturday night, leaving nearly 45,000 homes temporarily without electricity.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, a fire broke out at an electrical transformer in the Moulins district, in the west of Nice.
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said the fire had been deliberately started and that he “strongly condemned these malicious acts that affect our country” in a post on X.
He added that the city would be strengthening its security around electrical sites in the coming days and that a formal complaint would be filed following the incident.
Power was restored around 6 a.m. on Sunday. The neighboring towns of Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer were also affected by the blackout.
Power outage on Cannes Festival’s closing day
The incident follows a blackout that struck Cannes and the surrounding region the previous day, affecting nearly 160,000 homes. Authorities say the outage was caused by deliberate acts of sabotage.
A high-voltage substation was set on fire in the Var department, and a power pylon was sawn down in the Alpes-Maritimes. Despite the disruption, the Cannes Film Festival proceeded as planned on its final day, thanks to its independent power supply. Electricity was restored to the region by late afternoon.
At this stage, there is no indication that the two incidents are connected.