No less than 874 cars were set ablaze in France during traditional New Year’s Eve celebrations and, while that number sounds high, it was a significant drop compared to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic.
During New Year’s Eve celebrations back in 2019, 1,316 vehicles were destroyed by fire after being set alight by young revelers. French authorities said the deployment of 95,000 police officers throughout Paris and restrictions on public gatherings due to the Omicron variant contributed to the reduced figures this New Year’s Eve. No figures were released for 2020 due to the pandemic.
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The bizarre “tradition” of burning cars to ring in the New Year is thought to have been started by youths in the 1990s in the Strasbourg region of eastern France. It has also become a way for the younger generation to protest. This was particularly apparent in 2005 when almost 9,000 vehicles were burned in a period of just three weeks during protests in housing projects across the country.
La nuit de la Saint-Sylvestre a connu une baisse des violences grâce au dispositif des forces de l’ordre. Merci aux près de 130 000 policiers, gendarmes et personnels de la sécurité civile qui ont porté secours et assuré la sécurité des Français cette nuit. pic.twitter.com/DTEUE3dyGf
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) January 1, 2022
WION reports that more than 441 people were detained for questioning after vehicles and trash cans were set alight.
In a Twitter post, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin thanked the police and security personal that worked through New Year’s Eve and contributed to the decrease in violence throughout the country.