France's train network hit by "massive and serious" sabotage just ahead of Olympics, officials say
France's high-speed rail system was hit by several acts of "criminal" vandalism Friday, disrupting travel in the country as thousands of people flocked to Paris for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics set to take place later in the day. No injuries were immediately reported.
France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on social media that "acts of sabotage were carried out in a prepared and coordinated manner" across the rail network.
"The consequences on the rail network are massive and serious," Attal said. "Our intelligence services and law enforcement are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts."
France's transportation minister told local media that attacks on three sites in the early hours of the morning involved cable clusters connected to the railway being doused with fuel and set on fire.
"Due to coordinated acts of malice in France, affecting several high speed lines, several high speed trains are being diverted or canceled," France's national railway company SNCF said. The attacks also disrupted Eurostar trains travelling internationally to and from London.
The organizers of the Paris Summer Games said they were "assessing the situation."
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told local media the attack would have "no impact" on the Games opening ceremony, "because it has no consequences on the transport network" of the capital city. But two German showjumping athletes said they would miss Friday's opening ceremony because of the rail delays, according to The Associated Press, which cited Germany's dpa news agency.
A spokesperson for SNCF told CBS News that "four trains with athletes on board were concerned by the delays. Measures have been taken so that all are transported to Paris. At this time, everything is fine and settled. The problem is solved."
"It's a real shame, but we would have arrived too late," rider Philipp Weishaupt, who was traveling with teammate Christian Kukuk, said according to the AP. "There was no longer a chance of making it on time."
French prosecutors said they'd opened a criminal investigation. Police told CBS News the country's counterterrorism unit was not running that investigation, and that the attack was similar in nature to sabotage that hit the rail network in January 2023, carried out by a far-left group.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said on local television that incendiary devices had been discovered, the AP reported.
"Everything indicates these are criminal fires," he said.
SNCF chief executive Jean-Pierre Farandou said the fires targeted intersections of train tracks and thus doubled their impact, according to the AP.
It was "a premeditated, calculated, coordinated attack" that indicates "a desire to seriously harm" the French people, he said.
The attacks came as many in France prepared to leave on their traditional summer vacations. Crowds were reported in some major stations.
"I think of all the French people, all the families, who were preparing to go on vacation," Prime Minister Attal said. "I share their anger and salute their patience, their understanding and the civic-mindedness they demonstrate."
French prosecutors in Marseilles told the AFP news agency on Friday, meanwhile, that they had been investigating another incendiary device found on a high-speed train line in May, discovered on the same day the Olympic flame arrived in the city.