An illegal outdoor rave party that drew thousands to a remote mountain plateau in defiance of coronavirus social distancing rules has sparked fury in France's least populated region, reports FRANCE 24.
Police in the Lozère region blocked off an area in the Cevennes national park where up to 10,000 people, including small children, attended the unsanctioned rave at the weekend, local authorities said.
After an initial strict lockdown by the security forces, partygoers were gradually allowed to leave and by Monday afternoon, some 4,500 people were still present at the remote site, Lozère's top local official, prefect Valérie Hatsch, said in a statement.
Police had been guarding the secluded site in a protected area of the national park, preventing vehicles from leaving "for health reasons linked to the risk of spreading COVID-19," local authorities earlier told AFP.
Some 10,000 people in hundreds of cars had streamed to the site from around midnight on Saturday for a rave party that flouted a ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Police blocked off the area on Sunday morning to prevent new partygoers joining.
By Monday, they were checking the blood alcohol levels of those leaving and staggering departures to prevent traffic blockages at the height of the holiday season.
Many people were still so inebriated that they were unable to drive anyway from the site on the Causse Méjean plateau, officials said.