Almost 1,000 cars set ablaze during New Year celebrations in France

Despite nearly 1,000 cars being set ablaze, hundreds of thousands of people in France welcomed the New Year with largely peaceful celebrations, according to Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.

Retailleau announced late on Wednesday that 984 cars went up in flames across the country. Some 420 people were arrested, 310 of whom were taken into police custody.

The minister called the figures unacceptable. "This violence is the product of a brutalization embodied by cowards and thugs who attack the property of often humble French people who do not have the means to protect their vehicles in private car parks."

But the crowds on the Champs-Élysées in Paris were not affected as they celebrated with stage shows and music on the famous boulevard, capped by a fireworks display at the Arc de Triomphe but the interior minister.

The event, which like last year had been expected to attract around 1 million people, was largely peaceful, according to initial reports.

Some 10,000 police officers were deployed in the French capital and special security precautions were in place for the party on the main thoroughfare, which was closed to traffic.

Visitors had to pass through several security gates, while fireworks and glass bottles were banned, which severely restricted the consumption of alcohol by revellers.

Citing the authorities, the BFMTV channel reported that 136 people were arrested during the city's celebrations.

In the rest of France, too, the turn of the year was largely calm, although in some cities there were clashes between revellers and the police.

In Strasbourg, a 15-year-old was killed when he was run over by a car fleeing from the police.

In Lyon, a two-year-old child was hit in the face by a firework and seriously injured in the eye, according to media reports.

A school was set on fire in Sarrebourg in Alsace, but no injuries were reported.