The French Riviera has been hit by another major power outage its second in just 48 hours after a suspicious fire broke out overnight at a substation in the city of Nice.
The fire started around 2:00 AM on Sunday, cutting electricity to at least 45,000 homes. This came just a day after a similar massive outage in Cannes, which authorities also suspect to be an act of sabotage.
According to official reports, the outage not only affected residences but also disrupted public infrastructure. Nice Airport, the city’s tram network, and neighboring towns such as Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer were left without power before electricity was restored in the early morning hours.
The Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, responded via the platform X, stating he “strongly condemns” the malicious acts that are threatening the country’s safety and stability.
This latest outage follows the Cannes incident during the international film festival, where about 160,000 homes lost power due to a suspected arson attack on another substation. Several screenings were interrupted, causing concern among festival attendees and organizers.
French authorities have launched investigations to determine whether the two incidents are connected and to identify any possible perpetrators behind the suspected acts of sabotage.
