When reinforced security measures in nice opened the annual carnival
PARIS, 12 Feb. /Offset. TASS Sergey Shcherbakov/. The annual carnival started in nice at reinforced security measures — six months after the tragic terrorist attack. The festival opened on February 11, a Grand costume parade, which, on assurances of experts, is not inferior to his fellow carnival in Rio de Janeiro and Venice.
Traditionally, the carnival in nice runs through the main artery of the town — the promenade des Anglais. This time, however, the city authorities chose a different route, away from the place, where in July 2016 under the wheels of a truck driven by a terrorist, killing 86 people and hundreds of people were injured.
Also this year, nice introduced unprecedented security measures: the audience had to pass through several security checkpoints equipped with metal detector, show the contents of bags and pockets to see the costume parade. “We have taken all the necessary measures. Mobilized considerable forces. Otherwise, I would not have permitted holding of the carnival”, — assured the head of the region Provence-Alpes-côte d’azur and the former mayor of nice Christian Estrosi.
Le Roi Soleil brille de mille feux ce soir à #Nice06 ! #carnavaldenice #NiceMoments #nicecarnival #ilovenice ??? pic.twitter.com/HakAFu0ntg
— Carnaval de Nice (@nice_carnaval) 11 Feb 2017
Under the strict ban on firecrackers, some costumes that may mislead law enforcement officers, and any imitation weapons: pirate swords, cowboy guns, etc.
Usually the nice carnival, which runs until 25 February, attracts about 700 thousand spectators, not only from France but from all over Europe. However, due to the high terrorist threat in this year organizers noted a serious decline about 20% in the number of tickets bought compared to previous years.
Holiday amidst the painful memories
A little over six months ago, on 14 July 2016, a heavy truck at full speed crashed into the crowd on the promenade des Anglais in nice, where at the time there were thousands of people at odds after the fireworks on the National holiday of France. Killing 86 people, injuring 434. Among the dead were two Russians.
The attack was made by the Tunisian Mohamed Louisej Bouhlel, which was eliminated by the police on the spot. A few days later after the attack, the responsibility was assumed by the terrorist group “Islamic state” (IG banned in Russia), which declared in absentia of terrorist “soldiers.”
The French authorities do not cease to recall that the terrorist threat in the country remains high. A clear proof of this was the detention on Friday, members of the terrorist cell in the city of Montpellier located in the South of France, 300 km from nice. They had discovered the videos that confirm their commitment to radical Islam and ISIS. According to preliminary data, they were planning to carry out a terrorist attack in one of the tourist areas of Paris.
Currently, France has a state of emergency, which was extended at least five times. The last time a state of emergency, which significantly expands the powers of intelligence agencies, was extended until 15 July 2017, taking into account the upcoming France presidential and parliamentary elections.