Authorities in western France say a police car was torched and officers were injured after dispersing an illegal New Year’s Eve party held in a hangar in Lieuron, Brittany. Officials said the underground event drew at least 2,500 ravers.
Police say that when they attempted to shut down the party, officers were met by a barrage of bottles and rocks hurled by punters.
“In the early evening of December 31, several hundred vehicles began to converge on an industrial area in the town of Lieuron to set up a rave party,” a local authority said Friday in a statement. “A police vehicle was set on fire, three other vehicles were damaged, and soldiers were sprayed with bottles and stones, causing minor injuries.”
According to the Associated Press, prosecutors are considering possible criminal charges as the rave also took place despite France’s 8 p.m.-to-6 a.m. nationwide curfew in effect since December 15 to slow the spread of COVID-19. One attendee said that “very few had respected social distancing” at the event.
More than 2.6 million people have been infected with COVID-19 in France and nearly 65,000 have died.
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