Newsman: Just hours before the start of the Paris Olympics, a coordinated arson attack on the French rail system put Paris into a nightmare for hundreds of thousands of travelers. A series of pre-dawn arson attacks targeted high-speed rail service across France early Friday. Authorities prevented a fourth attack on the Paris-Marseille line. No injuries were reported and No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation according to the Authority.
The intense security and an unprecedented level of security operation were evident throughout Paris, aiming to keep any disturbances from interrupting the celebration of sport. Police from around the world are lined up the sidewalks and streets all the way around the Seine River.
The attack has delayed journeys for 800,000 travelers including travelers on international train routes into France from Germany in what the French transport minister described as “coordinated attacks of malicious intent.”
The opening ceremony kicked off as planned with greater security despite the attack.
“We were prepared ahead of Olympics, but we expected to face normal failures… Of course, we are going to fully mobilize our teams now,” SNCF CEO Farandou also has acknowledged to reporters.
French Rail Company SNCF announced on Friday its high-speed train system had been hit by “deliberate arson attacks to damage [its] facilities” causing delays and cancellations which are expected to last all weekend.
Attackers started fires in wire bundles containing multiple fiber-optic cables, Le Monde reported, quoting SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou. SNCF CEO said hundreds of workers would be needed to manually repair the cables one at a time.
As many as 800,000 passengers were affected by the attacks, SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou said earlier on Friday. The incident was intent on “paralyzing the network,” Farandou told USA TODAY.
Rail disruptions included Eurostar trains running between Paris and London. Other international train routes into France from Germany were also experiencing delays.
Many train routes will have to be canceled and repairs would last “at least all weekend,” SNCF told Agence France-Presse. The railway service asked passengers to delay trips and stay away from train stations, Le Monde said.
The attacks took place between 1 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. Paris time, the BBC reported. They targeted electrical cables and train signal boxes on three lines of the SNCF, the state-owned railway service. A “large number of trains” were diverted or canceled, SNCF said on X.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said that no American athletes were affected by the train disruptions because they were mostly traveling on buses.
The outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the sabotage operation “had been prepared and coordinated to hit the nerve centers” of the French rail network. “It shows [the perpetrators] knew where to attack the system. But I can’t tell you more about the authors and their motivations,” he told reporters at the rail crisis center.
Attal also said “the mobilization was total” to find alternative transport for the people who were stranded and that a “new transport plan” would be ready by Friday afternoon. Disruptions are expected all weekend.
No arrests have made “to [my] knowledge”, said outgoing Prime Minister Attal.
The Paris prosecutor’s organized crime division has opened an investigation into a series of charges including “damage to property likely to affect the fundamental interests of the nation.”
The president of the International Olympics Committee Thomas Bach said he didn’t have “any concerns” following the arson attack. “We have full confidence in the French authorities,” he told reporters at the Olympic Athletes’ village.
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First lady Jill Biden arrives in Paris for Olympics as her husband passes the torch
First lady Jill Biden watched on Wednesday night as President Joe Biden told the American people it was time to “pass the torch” on his political career. Then she got on a plane, flying nearly 4,000 miles to Paris, where another torch was being passed.
Jill Biden has arrived in Paris at a monumental time for her husband’s presidency. Her role has rapidly shifted from that of an active and prolific surrogate to a leader racing the clock to the inauguration of a new administration.
The trip, which has been in the works long before the president suspended his reelection campaign, will signal how her role may be remembered at home and on the world stage.
