French authorities blame sabotage for second power blackout

NICE, France: French authorities on Sunday blamed sabotage and ordered heightened security after a fire at an electricity sub-station in Nice caused the second major power blackout in two days along the Riviera.

The latest fire cut power to about 45,000 homes in western Nice for several hours, authorities said. Nice airport was briefly without electricity, the city´s deputy mayor Gael Nofri told AFP. A similar arson attack on a power substation on Saturday partially disrupted the final day of the Cannes film festival, forcing organisers to use backup generators to keep the event going.

Prosecutors said they had opened an investigation and were looking into a claim on Sunday by two anarchist groups of “responsibility for the attack on electrical installations on the Cote d´Azur”. The claim was posted on an alternative website.

“I vigorously condemn these criminal acts hitting our country,” Nice mayor Christian Estrosi said on X. “We are making images from our monitoring centre available to investigators and will strengthen the city´s network at strategic electrical sites in coming days,” he added.

“Until the perpetrators of these acts have been arrested, we will not ease up our attention anywhere,” Estrosi told reporters. Nice´s chief prosecutor Damien Martinelli said studies had been carried out “to clarify the damage and the methods used to carry out the act” and that police were investigating “arson by an organised group”.