BERLIN — Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner is condemning a suspected left-wing arson attack that knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes in the dead of winter, calling the act “terrorism” and warning that lives are at risk.
Authorities say the fire was deliberately set on the cable bridge over the Teltow Canal in Berlin’s Lichterfelde district in the southwest part of the capital, triggering one of the most severe blackouts in a European capital since the end of World War II.
The attack occurred early Saturday morning near the Lichterfelde heat and power station, where several high-voltage cables were destroyed. Officials said the damage cut power to roughly 45,000 to 50,000 homes, along with about 2,200 businesses and public facilities.
As of Monday, around 30,000 households were still without power as repair crews worked to replace underground cables buried in frozen soil. The operator of Berlin’s electric grid said full service is not expected to be restored until Thursday.
The prolonged outage occurred during freezing winter conditions, raising concerns about heating failures and the safety of elderly and medically vulnerable residents.
A far-left extremist group calling itself “Vulkangruppe” reportedly claimed responsibility for the arson. In a statement circulating online, the group said the attack was intended to target fossil fuel companies, not to cut electricity to residents.
Authorities rejected that claim, noting the obvious and foreseeable consequences of sabotaging power infrastructure. Investigators said the group cited opposition to artificial intelligence and climate policy as motives for the attack.
The incident has renewed scrutiny of a long-running campaign of sabotage linked to left-wing extremists in Germany.
Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office, known as the Generalbundesanwalt, has formally taken over the investigation, a step typically reserved for cases involving terrorism or threats to the constitutional order.
Berlin Interior Senator Iris Spranger welcomed the move, describing the arson as a “left-wing terrorist act” and emphasizing that it endangered lives. Other officials echoed that assessment, noting the scale of the outage and the timing during the height of winter weather.
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I sure hope Germany is considering passing background checks for using fire?? They need common sense fire legislation!
I suspect Germany’s throwing down the welcome mat for an assortment of radical and leftist groups might have aided the terrorists. Uncontrolled and wide open immigration laws cannot be good for any country.
Well the so wise Germans, particularly thanks to Andrea Merkel is getting their just rewards. The Left ie, Islamic groups are showing their appreciation of being in Germany by destroying it. Better get rid of all of them or kiss your wiener-schnitzels good bye.
What a pathetic website. This site is going UK style but nothing new when Biden admin was in office. Unfortunately it has one those intentionally misleading Titles which really should this is Anti American Liberty site. Shame.
Noted. Hope the players like Socialism, you won’t own squat but you will be happy living in a 20 story high rise apt. That is your future.