More than 2,500 attend illegal New Year’s rave in France

Authorities in the French region of Breton said more than 2,000 people participated in an illegal New Year’s Eve rave in defiance of coronavirus restrictions on gatherings.

“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,” local officials said, according to CNN.

Authorities said they “faced violent hostility” when they tried to shut down the gathering, saying “a police vehicle was set on fire, three other vehicles were damaged, and soldiers were sprayed with bottles and stones, causing minor injuries.”

Attendees are “estimated at 2,500, coming from different French departments and from abroad,” officials reportedly said, noting that the public prosecutor’s office has opened a probe of the incident.

France imposed a national 8 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew beginning Dec. 15, during which residents are only allowed outside to commute to and from their jobs or schools, medical appointments that cannot take place remotely, judicial summons or essential family tasks.

France has seen more than 2.6 million cases of the virus and about 65,000 deaths. After a newer, more infectious strain was detected in southeastern England, French officials briefly barred freight from the U.K.