35,000 homes without power in Berlin for days after ‘left-wing activists’ attack power lines | World News

About 35,000 homes are without power in Berlin after officials said left-wing extremists attacked high-voltage power lines.

They were damaged by a fire which broke out on Saturday morning on a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal, near the Lichterfelde power plant, according to local authorities.

Officials have opened community centres for residents to take shelter during the freezing temperatures and converted sports halls into emergency accommodation.

Stromnetz Berlin, which operates the local grid, said more than 45,000 households and 2,200 businesses were initially without electricity in the Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde districts, found in the capital’s southwest.

Power is not expected to be fully restored until Thursday, at a time of year when Berlin is experiencing sub-zero daytime temperatures.

The incident is being investigated as a possible act of arson. Authorities compared it to a similar power outage last September in southeast Berlin, when radical activists said they were behind the attack.

The perpetrators on Saturday were “clearly left-wing extremists”, Berlin’s mayor Kai Wegner told a German news agency.

“It is unacceptable that once again clearly left-wing extremists have attacked our power grid and thereby endangered human lives,” Mr Wegner said.

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Franziska Giffey, the city’s senator for economic affairs, said the power outage, which also affected heating and internet services, had struck “tens of thousands of households and businesses, including care facilities, hospitals, numerous social institutions and companies”.

Stromnetz Berlin issued an update on Sunday in which it said around 35,000 households and 1,900 business customers in the Nikolassee, Zehlendorf and Wannsee districts are still without power.

Snowy weather and freezing temperatures have slowed down efforts to restore power.