Paris trains sabotaged on opening day of Olympics

A series of attacks on trains in Paris, which are being considered as “coordinated sabotage”, and a bomb alert at a Franco-Swiss airport have put France on high alert on the day scheduled for the official opening of the Olympic Games, this Friday (26).

French public railway company SNCF reported having suffered a “massive attack” that paralyzed its high-speed train network just hours before the start of the ceremony, affecting around 800,000 passengers.

According to the state-owned company, signal boxes were damaged along the lines that connect the French capital to cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. There was also an attempted attack on the Paris-Marseille line. Repairs to the networks are already underway, but are only expected to be completed by the end of the week.

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French authorities have opened an investigation into “criminal association” and “deterioration of property.” According to Valerie Pecresse, president of the Paris region, the attack “is not a coincidence, it is an effort to destabilize France.”

According to news agencies, France has mobilized 45,000 police officers, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security agents for the opening ceremony. The Paris police chief said security was being stepped up at stations in the capital.

In addition to the attacks on trains, the Franco-Swiss Basel-Mulhouse airport briefly halted traffic this morning after being evacuated due to a bomb alert. The airport had already been the target of such warnings late last year.

With agencies

(PL)