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."