Thousands of people gather for carnival in Marseille, breaking Covid health restrictions

More than 6,000 mostly unmasked people took part in an illegal street party in the city of Marseille, southern France, over the weekend, leading to condemnation of an “unacceptable” violation of the rules. Covid-19.

The carnival-like rally in the port city drew mainly young people, many of whom expressed frustration with restrictions on gatherings and the closure of bars and nightclubs during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marseille was not among the 16 different regions that entered a new lockdown on Saturday, with its current workload lower than national hot spots such as the neighboring city of Nice along the Mediterranean coast or the capital region. .

“It is totally unacceptable at a time when we are all making efforts, we are adapting and we are organizing to respect the different rules in order to fight against the pandemic”, declared Monday the spokesperson of the Ministry of the Interior, Camille Chaize. , on France Info radio.

Nine people were arrested and dozens were fined, she said.

The mayor of Marseille Benoit Payan said he was “outraged” by the event, adding on Twitter: “Nothing justifies that we will undermine our collective efforts to keep the virus at bay”.

The president of the Provence-Alpes-Côtes-d’Azur region Renaud Muselier also expressed his condemnation of the improvised street party.

“In the midst of a health crisis, after a year of combat by our health workers in the face of Covid-19, the images coming out of the Marseille carnival are shameful,” he wrote on Twitter, adding a video clip showing the scenes.

The impatience to return to a normal life is no excuse for these reckless actions – putting the lives of others in danger is not acceptable! ”

The French government on Saturday introduced a limited lockdown for about a third of the population, with all non-essential shops closed and travel prohibited in these areas, but schools are open and people are allowed to leave their homes at will in a radius of 10 kilometers. .

Over the New Years period, around 2,500 young people broke a national curfew to attend an illegal rave in northwestern France, which embarrassed the government and raised questions as to why the police didn’t. had not stopped the party which lasted two days.

(with AFP)