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 SNFC said.
The organizers of the Paris Summer Games said they were "assessing the situation," but Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told local media the attack would have "no impact" on the opening ceremony, "because it has no consequences on the transport network" of the capital city.
French prosecutors said they had opened a criminal investigation. Police told CBS News that the country's counterterrorism unit was not running the 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 Associated Press reported.
"Everything indicates these are criminal fires," he said.
SNFC 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."
