Authorities in the French department of the Maritime Alps reported a large-scale power outage, which, in particular, was in Cannes, where the closing ceremony of the annual international film festival is to be held on Saturday.
As Reuters writes, the power outage caused traffic lights to fail, leading to serious traffic jams. Visitors to cafes and restaurants could not pay with cards, and ATMs did not work.
Cannes festival organisers said they had managed to switch to a backup power supply, which “allows all planned events and film screenings, including the closing ceremony, to go ahead as normal”.
According to AFP police sources, the power failure in southern France could have been caused by a fire at a local electricity substation, probably caused by deliberate arson.