Reuters
Cooks pull food from a hotel in Cannes city, France after a power outage
A blackout in southern France, caused by alleged sabotage, disrupted screenings on the last day of the Cannes Film Festival.
About 160,000 homes in Cannes and surrounding area lost power early on Saturday before supply recovered in the afternoon.
Officials said the generator was on fire and the pylon elsewhere was damaged.
International Film Festival organizers say the closing ceremony will go as planned, as if it had alternative power sources.
Prosecutors say the first blackout occurred when a substation in the village of Tanneron, which supplies Cannes, was attacked by an arsonist early.
At 10:00 (08:00 GMT), the leg of an electric pylon near the town of Villeneuve-Loubet was amputated, causing a second stop.
In Cannes, the shops and restaurants had a hard time operating.
“I’ll throw everything away for another hour,” Laurent Avocrat, who owns a Jamin restaurant in Cannes, told AFP news agency. He said his fridge had been resting since the morning.
Reuters
After halt, several ice cream shops were closed in Cannes
“Cannes is slowing completely, melting down. There’s no coffee anywhere. I think the town has exhausted its croissants. I think this is like an area of crisis,” Australian producer Darren Vukassinovich told Reuters.
Several screenings were interrupted by the morning cut before festival organizers could switch to private generators.
Saturday is the final day of the festival. French actress Juliet Binoche and her ju-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-
