Olympic Host Country France Sees Less New Year’s Eve Disorder as It Celebrates 2024’s Arrival

PARIS (AP) — France saw fewer of the car burnings that usually blight the arrival of a new year as the Olympic host country celebrated the start of 2024, the interior minister said Monday.

The 380 arrests made nationwide overnight was a 10% drop compared with a year ago, said Gerald Darmanin, citing preliminary early morning figures.

Authorities counted 745 vehicle fires, also 10% fewer than last year, Darmanin said.

About 40 police officers suffered slight injuries, a 40% drop on last year, he added.

Law enforcement authorities had been eager to prove that 2024’s arrival could be celebrated without a major security crisis as they gear up for the Summer Games that open in Paris on July 26.

In Paris, celebrations centered on the Champs-Elysees boulevard, where the Arc de Triomphe was crowned with fireworks and bathed in lights and video projections, including of the five Olympic rings. Darmanin said the crowd there topped 1 million people.

The security challenge ahead of the Olympics was highlighted when a tourist was killed in a knife attack near the Eiffel Tower on Dec. 2. Large-scale attacks — such as that in 2015, when Islamic extremists invaded a concert venue and shot up cafe terraces, killing 130 people — also loom in memory.

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