Paris/Lieuron: Police on Saturday shut a massive party on since New Year’s Eve in defiance of covid-19 curbs on large gatherings and a curfew in northwestern France.
Police said more than 2,500 people attended the gathering at a warehouse in Lieuron, near Rennes. Reports said some of them even clashed with police.
Those at the party have been slapped with fines and the party organizers are being identified, France’s interior minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted.
The party organizers will soon be prosecuted, Darmanin added in the tweet.
The administration in Ille-et-Vilaine a prefecture in the Brittany region, tweeted that nearly 450 fines had been issued for violating curfew, not wearing masks and joining an illegal party.
All those who attended the party have been advised by the local health authorities to self-isolate for at least seven days.
A police car was set on fire while three others were damaged as rioters hurled bottles and rocks at police, the local administration said. Several police officers were injured in the incident, they added.
France, which has the most covid infections in western Europe, is stepping up curbs and has imposed stricter curfew in several northeastern and southeastern departments.
The country has already imposed two lockdowns since the pandemic began. Restaurants and bars are shut for now and when they might re-open is anybody’s guess.
Photo by David Monniaux/Wikimedia Creative Commons