Thousand of vehicles burnt in France on New Year's eve

PARIS - A total of 1,193 vehicles were burnt on the New Year's eve in France, in comparison with last official figure of 1,147 torched cars in 2009, French Interior Minister said Tuesday.

"When it concerns insecurity, there is nothing to hide ... There is no significant change from torched cars and two-wheelers of recent years," Manuel Valls said.

Setting cars ablaze has become quite a tradition in French suburbs on New Year's eve these years as a display of vandalism.

On this New Year eve 53,000 policemen and gendarmes were mobilized across the country to secure safety in roads, in the famous Champs Elysee and in the Eiffel Tower where hundreds of thousands of people gathered for the New Year countdown.

One young man was killed in the Bas-Rhin in Monday's celebration due to an explosion of a mortar type firework, while three policemen and four gendarmes suffered from slight injuries, according to the minister.