Seine

PARIS - As pale morning light flickered across the Seine, Capt. Freddy Badar steered his hulking river barge, Le Bosphore, past picturesque Normandy villages and snow-fringed woodlands, setting a course for Paris.

The 2024 Paris Olympics' opening ceremony will be held on the famed River Seine, taking place outside of a sports venue for the first time in the Games' history. But for the booksellers who have found a centuries-old sanctuary on the riverbanks, that day is all but ceremonious.

The pre-Olympics swimming test competition due to take place Sunday in the Seine in Paris has been cancelled due to pollution of the river, the international swimming federation said after analysis of the latest water samples.

Coastal parks in the French capital, Paris, had to be closed today after the river Seine emerged from its bed after several days of rainfall, city authorities said on Thursday.

At the Austerlitz measuring point, the waters of the Seine reached 4.2 m, that is, more than 2 m above their normal level, and some low-lying pier and coastal pedestrian zones were flooded.

Nearly 1,500 people have been evacuated from homes in the Paris region, with authorities on alert for any major flood risk after the levels of the swollen River Seine rose further on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Riverside homes and businesses in Paris are on high alert as the swollen River Seine threatens to overflow its banks, BBC reports. 

Some basements in the city have already sprung leaks after the river surged following heavy rainfall, reports said.

The Seine is forecast to swell even further this weekend, adding several metres of water above its normal level.

Rivers in France continued to flood outside their riverbeds on Wednesday despite less rainfall, the Associated Press reported.

The work of the rail was hampered in Paris after the Seine River rose and flooded streets. In the suburb of the French capital, the army intervened, while in the other the people were provided with boats.

A 13-year-old girl was killed and 12 others were injured when a man drove his car into the outdoor terrace of a pizzeria east of Paris, officials said late Aug. 14.        
         

BIRN’s documentary ‘The Unidentified’, about the men responsible for some of the most brutal atrocities of the Kosovo war in 1999, had its French premiere at the Sarajevo Sur Seine film festival.