2 million in South France hit by power cut

> PARIS, Dec 21, 2009 -- Xinhua

> 

> Around 2 million people living in southeast France were hit by power 

> cuts

> since Monday afternoon after a technical incident, French power 

> company

> said.

> 

> Due to a technical incident occurred in southern city of Avignon, 

> French

> Electricity Transmission Network (RTE), an operator of France 

> Electricity

> Group (EDF), announced in a statement that they will cut power 

> supply to

> some customers in southeast regions since 14:45 local time.

> 

> RTE said the selective cut-off was in order to avoid a massive 

> blackout

> affecting south departments like Provence, Alpes and Cote d'Azur, 

> adding

> that "2 million people" would be left in darkness. The company 

> expressed

> sorry to customers, but it didn't say how long the regional blackout 

> will

> last. According to local media, many blocks in southern French city 

> Nice and

> Marseilles went dark on Monday afternoon.

> 

>