France's Giant Curfew-Busting Party is over after Two Nights

World

January 2nd, 11:21am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A disused hangar in Lieuron, about 25 miles south of Rennes, hosted a New Year’s Eve rave. (Getty Images)

France's interior minister said Saturday a judicial investigation has been opened to identify and prosecute organizers of an underground party that drew at least 2,500 people in western France despite a curfew amid the coronavirus pandemic. Gerald Darmanin tweeted that actions by police around the site at Lieuron, in Brittany, “led to the end of the illegal party without violence” on Saturday morning, some 36 hours after it began. He said more than 1,200 people have been fined for not respecting the curfew, not wearing a mask and illegally taking part in a gathering. Sound equipment and power generators have been confiscated, he added. Ravers from France and abroad converged on a hangar in Lieuron on Thursday night to party into the New Year. Officials said ravers attacked the police on the first night, torching one police vehicle and injuring officers with volleys of bottles and stones. The party took place despite France’s nationwide night-time curfew aimed at dissuading people from gathering amid the pandemic. France has reported more than 64,000 virus-related deaths.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2717091/frances-giant-curfew-busting-party-over-after-two-nights