Olympics 2024: French security forces primed to handle unique opening ceremony on the river Seine
About 45,000 police and paramilitary officers will be on duty, along with 10,000 soldiers and 20,000 private security guards.
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On the water, perched on rooftops and operating AI-augmented cameras, French security forces have mounted a colossal operation to prevent an incident ruining the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on the river Seine on Friday evening.
The figures tell only part of the story of the efforts made to protect the river parade, the first time a Summer Olympics has started outside a stadium.
About 45,000 police and paramilitary officers will be on duty, along with 10,000 soldiers and 20,000 private security guards.
The total area that needs securing measures more than six kilometres (four miles) along the Seine and will contain around 300,000 ticketed spectators, as well as hundreds of thousands of other residents and tourists in overlooking buildings.
A no-fly zone 150 kilometres wide around Paris will be enforced an hour before the ceremony starts at 7:30 pm (11PM IST/1730 GMT), grounding or diverting all aviation at one of Europe's busiest airport hubs.
“This opening ceremony is the most extraordinary thing a country can do,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told BFM television on Wednesday.
It comes at a time when France is on its maximum alert for terror attacks.
“Security of 100 percent does not exist,” Frederic Pechenard, a former head of the French police force, told AFP. “The...
