Europe 1 with AFP 4:38 p.m., February 26, 2023
This Sunday, a rave-party organized on the night of Friday to Saturday in a disused factory in Lens continued at a lower intensity.
It gathered up to 1,500 participants on Saturday but only had around 900 on Sunday morning according to the prefecture, while the organizers initially announced that they were expecting 10,000.
The rave-party organized since the night from Friday to Saturday in a disused factory in Lens (Pas-de-Calais) continued Sunday at midday, at a lower intensity, announced the prefecture, which wanted to end it as soon as possible.
“My wish is to put an end to the nuisance and the endangerment of the participants as soon as possible,” explained to AFP the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, Jacques Billant.
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The prefect explains that he is monitoring the evolution of the situation in order to assess whether an evacuation is possible, in this vast industrial wasteland where the presence, in particular, of pits and unstable roofs made a police intervention risky at the height of the demonstration or during the night.
“It is totally irresponsible to organize a gathering of this nature on such a dangerous site,” he insisted.
The police have been carrying out "zone control" since Saturday to prevent new participants from joining the rave party.
It gathered up to 1,500 participants on Saturday but only had around 900 on Sunday morning according to the prefecture, while the organizers initially announced that they were expecting 10,000.
About 200 members of the police were mobilized on the spot on Sunday.
Two people were arrested for manifest drunkenness, possession of knives and narcotics, refusal to comply and contempt.
The firefighters have meanwhile intervened six times, for discomfort related to the consumption of alcohol and narcotics, again according to the prefect.