First Spain, now France... Power outage paralyzes life: Cannes Film Festival also affected

A major power outage occurred in cities in the western part of the Alpes-Maritimes department in southern France. In a statement on its X (formerly Twitter) account, the prefecture stated that a serious problem had occurred in electricity transmission and urged citizens to be careful, especially during their daily commutes.

160 THOUSAND HOUSEHOLDS WITHOUT POWER

In an update shared on social media, France's national electricity transmission operator, RTE, announced that Cannes and surrounding cities were affected by the outage and that approximately 160 thousand households were without electricity. The statement noted that teams from Enedis, which is responsible for infrastructure maintenance, are working intensively in the region alongside RTE to restore power. An apology was issued to the public for the disruption.

CAUSE IDENTIFIED

Reports in the French press also provided details regarding the cause of the power outage. RTE officials stated that a high-voltage power pylon collapsed in the morning, which placed significant strain on the grid. On the other hand, it was noted that a fire at a transformer near Cannes during the night had also weakened the system, leading to the deepening of the crisis.

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL ALSO AFFECTED

The power outage also negatively impacted the 78th Cannes Film Festival, one of the world's most prestigious cinema events. Due to the outage, the screening of the Iranian film "Sirat" had to be interrupted. Festival officials announced that the closing ceremony scheduled for this evening would be held without interruption using generator support.

The effects of the power outage on city life were not limited to cultural events. Since 10:00 local time, there have been serious difficulties in transportation due to traffic lights not functioning in the region.