Hundreds booked for Covid violations as mass French NYE rave ends

Hundreds of revellers were booked for breaking coronavirus restrictions as an illegal rave in northwestern France ended on Saturday after more than two days of partying that saw clashes with police.

Police had failed to stop the underground event, which drew around 2,500 people from Thursday night in two disused warehouses in Lieuron, south of the city of Rennes in Brittany.

Such mass gatherings are banned across France to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and a nationwide 8:00 pm curfew -- which was not lifted for New Year -- has been in force across the country. 

Techno music blared out during the night from the warehouses, which had been transformed into illegal nightclubs for partygoers who had flocked to the site from across France and even from abroad.

The local prefecture said Saturday the music had been switched off and sound systems dismantled after two nights, and the first revellers began leaving the site before dawn.

By 10:15 am it was under the control of police, the local prefecture said.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a tweet that police had booked more than 1,200 people and seized a truck, sound equipment and generators from the site of the "illegal rave...