Inquiry into fire at Macron victory brasserie in Paris
An inquiry has been opened after a major fire broke out in the famous La Rotonde restaurant in Paris - at which President Macron celebrated electoral victory - on Friday night, with arson suspected.
The brasserie, which is in the Montparnasse district of the capital city, was made aware of an intrusion and a fire towards 5h on Saturday January 18.
The first police on the scene discovered a fire burning on the covered terrace. The blaze was quickly extinguished, but managed to create around 10m2 of damage, and appeared to have been started by a fire thrower, according to a Paris firefighter spokesperson.
Paris prosecutors confirmed that an inquiry had been opened to determine the cause of the incident.
Co-manager of the brasserie, Serge Tafanel, told the Agence France-Presse: “[The intruders] broke a window of the terrace on the ground floor. The damage is considerable. We will not be able to open for several days, or even weeks.”
Mr Tafanel added that the exterior of the restaurant had been the subject of a failed arson attempt on January 9.
In recent years, the restaurant has become known as a favourite haunt of President Emmanuel Macron, and was the site at which he celebrated victory in the second round of voting against opponent Marine Le Pen, during the Presidential election campaign.
