Technical Defect Forces Cannes Evacuation

One day before the beginning of this year’s film festival in Cannes, May 10, the main venue Palais des Festivals et des Congrès was evacuated. 

Photo: AP Photo / Joel Ryan
Actors Justin Timberlake, left, and Anna Kendrick pose for photographers during a photo call for the film Trolls at the 69th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 11. 

An announcement asked the people in the building to leave because of a technical fault. While such measures are commonplace, they raise special awareness following the recent terror attacks in Europe.

Drills at the Palais were carried out in the days leading up to the festival. And while security personnel is supposed to have been reinforced for this year’s edition, there wasn’t any increased police presence to be felt, at least on the day of evacuation, according to a report by Stuttgarter Nachrichten.