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A series of coordinated arson attacks have snarled rail travel in France on the opening day of the Paris Olympics.
The attacks took place at about 4 a.m. Friday, according to The New York Times.
French rail company SNCF said the nation’s high-speed train system East, North and West of Paris was struck by “deliberate arson attacks to damage [its] facilities” leading to delays that will last through the weekend, according to Politico.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the attacks were “prepared and coordinated to hit the nerve centers” of France’s rail system.
A map of today’s sabotage of train lines in #France pic.twitter.com/13mP7pyvs5
— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) July 26, 2024
“It shows [the perpetrators] knew where to attack the system,” he said.
“The consequences on the rail network are massive and serious,” Attal noted, according to Axios.
“Our intelligence services and law enforcement are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts,” he said.
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SNCF official Jean-Pierre Farandou said arson attacks on cables took place at locations “chosen to have serious consequences, because with one fire, they hit two train lines.” he added, stating 800,000 clients were affected by disruptions.
“Coordinated acts of malicious intent targeted several TGV [high-speed rail] lines, causing major disruption to traffic until the weekend,” Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said.
The Eurostar Paris-London line has also been disrupted.
“Due to coordinated acts of vandalism in France, affecting the high speed line between Paris and Lille, all high speed trains going to and coming from Paris are being diverted via the classic line today,” Eurostar said in a statement.
Farandou said the attacks targeted “a huge number” of cables carrying safety information to those driving the trains, according to Axios.
French Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete confirms incendiary devices found during investigation into major rail disruptions. Security forces on high alert. No details yet on perpetrators. #France #RailDisruption #IncendiaryDevices pic.twitter.com/TQi8aOPgm4
— Pakistani Index (@PakistaniIndex) July 26, 2024
“We have to repair them one-by-one, it’s a manual operation requiring hundreds of workers,” he said.
Farandou said authorities “don’t know who is behind it,” according to CNN.
CNN reported a source it did not name as saying “these methods have been used by the far-left in the past” but “there is no evidence to tie today’s actions to them.”
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