The outage disabled street lights, mobile networks, traffic lights, cooling devices in shops and also affected households where the heating was turned off.
In the southwestern part of Berlin on Sunday, electricity supplies were restored to thousands of households that were cut off after an arson attack. Mayor Kai Wegner declared on Sunday that it was the work of “left-wing extremists”. TASR writes about it according to the DPA agency.
- There was a major power outage in southwest Berlin.
- The cause was an arson attack on cables by unknown criminals.
- According to the authorities, the identification of the crime is related to left-wing radicalization.
“It is unacceptable that left-wing extremists are once again attacking our electricity grid and putting human lives at risk,” Wegner said, referring to a similar attack on two electricity poles in the city in September.
The attack disrupted the cables
Unknown perpetrators started the fire early Saturday morning on the link over the Teltow canal, which carries several high-voltage cables from the nearby Lichterfelde power plant.
According to the network operator, Stromnetz Berlin, the damage is extensive and repairs will take a long time. They expect the complete restoration of supplies by Thursday. The company explained that it was necessary to dig trenches and lay new cables. In addition, the work is made more difficult by the freezing weather.
Thousands of households without electricity
A total of 45,000 households and 2,200 businesses in the districts of Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde were cut off on Saturday as a result of the politically motivated attack.
The outage disabled street lights, mobile networks, traffic lights, cooling devices in shops and also affected households where the heating was turned off.
The attackers confessed
The arsonists with a far-left motive confessed to the crime in a letter that the authorities claim is authentic. However, it is not yet clear to which group or faction the attackers belong.
According to the deputy mayor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey, the perpetrators placed powerful incendiary devices directly under the cables. She emphasized that it was not ordinary pyrotechnics that the cables could withstand.
