PARIS (AP) — France saw fewer of the car burnings that usually blight the arrival of a new year as the Olympic host country celebrated the start of 2024, the interior minister said Monday.
The 380 arrests made nationwide overnight was a 10% drop compared with a year ago, said Gerald Darmanin, citing preliminary early morning figures.
Authorities counted 745 vehicle fires, also 10 fewer than last year, Darmanin said.
About 40 police officers were injured, 40 percent fewer than last year, he added.
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Law enforcement authorities were eager to prove that the arrival of 2024 could take place without a primary security crisis, as they prepare for the Summer Games that open in Paris on July 26.
Authorities had promised that security on New Year’s Eve would be beefed up across France, with the deployment of 90,000 police officers.
In Paris, celebrations centered on the Champs-Elysees boulevard, where the Arc de Triomphe was crowned with fireworks and bathed in lights and video projections, including of the five Olympic rings. Darmanin said the crowd there topped 1 million people.
The security corridor in the run-up to the Olympics was highlighted when a tourist was killed in a knife attack near the Eiffel Tower on Dec. 2. Large-scale attacks, such as the one in 2015, when Islamic extremists invaded a concert hall and opened fire. On the terraces of cafes, killing another 130 people, they are also remembered.
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AP Paris Olympics: https://apnews. com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
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