Second suspected sabotage in France as energy minimize hits Nice

A second energy outage in two days his hit the French Riviera area after a hearth at a substation in Nice in a single day, which authorities stated was attributable to a malicious act.

At least 45,000 properties had been affected after the blaze broke out at round 02:00 native time (01:00 BST) on Sunday, a day after close by Cannes suffered an enormous blackout that was blamed on suspected sabotage.

Police in Nice say “tire tracks” had been discovered and the door to the substation, within the west of town, was “damaged”, in keeping with native media reviews.

Nice Airport, the tramway community, and neighbouring cities of Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer, had been impacted earlier than energy was restored later within the morning.

Nice’s mayor Christian Estrosi stated on X that he “strongly denounced” the “malicious acts that have an effect on our nation”.

The metropolis’s deputy mayor, Gaël Nofri, stated the substation fireplace was “most likely of felony origin”.

It got here a day after Cannes suffered a major blackout during the international film festival. Officials stated it might have been attributable to an arson assault on a substation.

Around 160,000 properties within the metropolis and surrounding areas misplaced energy.

Several screenings had been interrupted by the ability minimize within the morning, earlier than pageant organisers had been capable of change to personal turbines.

At the second, no hyperlink has been established between the 2 incidents.

Estrosi stated authorities would reinforce the safety community across the Nice’s electrical websites. An investigation into “organised arson” has been opened.

Nice prosecutor Damien Martinelli was quoted by AFP information company as saying investigations had been underway, specifically “to make clear the harm and the way by which the act was dedicated”.