Hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, France’s high-speed rail network was hit by sabotage, disrupting the journey of millions of passengers.
According to the news agency ‘AFP’, sources close to the investigation told AFP that the attacks were coordinated acts of ‘sabotage’.
France’s state-owned railway company SNCF said the attack was widespread to paralyze the high-speed train network, with journeys canceled on many routes.
The national train operator said SNCF had suffered a series of malicious attacks overnight, affecting its Atlantic, Northern, and Eastern lines.
He further informed that the arson attacks were carried out to damage our facilities, the traffic on the affected roads was heavily affected, the repair work is in progress and the situation will continue till the end of the week.
Jean-Pierre Farando, chief executive of SNCF, said 800,000 passengers were affected by the attacks.
Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Gabriel Atal said French security forces were looking for people involved in Friday’s arson attacks that brought the country’s high-speed rail network to a standstill hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
On the social media website X, he said that our intelligence services and law enforcement agencies are active in finding and punishing the perpetrators of these criminal acts.
The Prime Minister termed the attacks as a coordinated act of sabotage against rail operator SNCF facilities, saying it would have “huge and serious consequences” on the rail network.
