Power outages in France

Anarchist groups claim responsibility for sabotage on the Riviera

Two anonymous anarchist groups claim responsibility for this weekend's two sabotages against the electricity grid on the French Riviera, French media report.

The first suspected sabotage took place on Saturday and affected 160,000 households and the Cannes Film Festival, where the lights suddenly went out. The power outage was caused by a fire in a power station, which the police suspect was arson. A similar incident led to the loss of power to 45,000 households during the night to Sunday.

"The aim of the action was not only to disrupt the festival, but also to cut off the electricity supply to all industrial plants," the anonymous anarchist groups wrote in a letter according to BFM.

The TV channel writes that the group appears to consist of a group of activists who are "ultra-left".

Riviera without power after new suspected sabotage

45,000 households on the French Riviera were left without power overnight Sunday after what is suspected to be a second act of sabotage this weekend, the BBC reports. The power outage was reportedly caused by a fire at a substation. The door to the facility had been broken open, police say.

The mayor of Nice condemns it as “malicious acts” against France.

Earlier this weekend, 160,000 households in Cannes lost power, also after suspected sabotage at a substation in the form of an arson attack.