20% fewer burnt cars, no “notable incident”, according to Darmanin – RT in French

There were 20% fewer cars burned than last year on New Year’s Eve 2023, reports this January 1 Gérald Darmanin. The Minister of the Interior is pleased that no “notable incident” has occurred in France.

According to the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on the night of December 31 to January 1, there were “about 20% fewer cars burned this year compared to last year”, which was ” already a year where there had been fewer burnt vehicles”.

The minister, who was speaking from Mayotte where he is visiting for two days, added that there had been around 490 arrests overnight, 11% more than last year.

Those arrested “wanted to fire mortars at the police” or “wanted to set fire to cars”, some of which for “insurance scams”, he said. The Minister of the Interior welcomed this assessment, due, according to him, “to the very significant presence of the gendarmes and the police”, particularly in Paris.

Separately, the ministry reported in a statement that 690 vehicles were set on fire, compared to 874 in 2022.

Some 90,000 police and gendarmes were mobilized for New Year’s Eve. In Paris, a million people gathered on the Champs-Elysées, where the traditional fireworks display was back after two years of absence due to Covid-19.