Saboteurs attack French railways, causing chaos hours before Olympic ceremony
Adds SNCF chief, police source
By Dominique Vidalon, Elizabeth Pineau
PARIS, July 26 (Reuters) - Saboteursattacked France's TGV high-speed train network in coordinated actions that caused chaos on the country's busiest rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.
The action took place despite a massive security operation involving tens of thousandsof troop and police to guard against any threat to the global sporting extravaganza.
The state-owned railway operator said arsonists had damaged signal boxes along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled.
Hundreds of thousands of people were left stranded.
The SNCF urged all travellers to postpone their journeys. Repairs were underway but traffic would be severely disrupted until at least the end of the weekend. Trains were being sent back to their points of departure.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility and no indication of whether the action was politically motivated.
"Everything leads us to believe that these were criminal acts," Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete told reporters at the Gare du Nord.
The attacks targeted signaling installations on the Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines with fires set off through the use of explosive devices, the SNCF said.
SNCF chief Jean-Pierre Farandou said some 800,000 customers had been impacted ahead of a busy weekend for French holidaymakers. Thousands of rail staff had been deployed to repair the damage.
The coordinated strikes on the rail network will feed into a sense of apprehension ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony in the heart of Paris later on Friday.
DESTABILISING FRANCE
"This attack is not a coincidence, it's an effort to destabilise France," Valerie Pecresse, president of the Paris region, told reporters.
France is rolling out an unprecedented peacetime security operation to secure the event, with more than 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security agents deployed. Snipers will be on rooftops and drones keeping watch from the air.
But while the capital is locked down for the opening ceremony, security elsewhere in the country is lighter.
Paris 2024 said it was working closely with the SNCF to assess the situation. The attacks will make it tougher for people travelling to Paris from other areas of France.
Some teams like the U.S. basketball team are based in Paris and would have travelled on Saturday by train to the northern city of Lille.
The Paris police chief said he was beefing up security yet further at the capital's main stations.
The stations were packed with passengers. Many were preparing to go off on their summer holidays and some had already been waiting several hours.
At the Gare de L'Est, traveller Corinne Lecocq said her train to Strasbourg on the border with Germany had been cancelled.
"We'll take the slow line," she said. "I'm on holiday so it's OK, even if it is irritating to be late."
Xavier Hiegel, 39, said he was just trying to get home for the weekend and could not believe that people would want to impact the Olympics.
"The Games bring jobs so this really is nonsense. I hope the people responsible will be found and punished," he said.
PARIS OLYMPICS 2024: What you need to know right now ID:nL1N3JH0V9
Additional reporting by Marine Strauss, Juliette Jabkhiro; writing by John Irish; editing by Richard Lough, Angus MacSwan and Rachel Armstrong
Pinakabagong Balita
Disclaimer: Ang mga kabilang sa XM Group ay nagbibigay lang ng serbisyo sa pagpapatupad at pag-access sa aming Online Trading Facility, kung saan pinapahintulutan nito ang pagtingin at/o paggamit sa nilalaman na makikita sa website o sa pamamagitan nito, at walang layuning palitan o palawigin ito, at hindi din ito papalitan o papalawigin. Ang naturang pag-access at paggamit ay palaging alinsunod sa: (i) Mga Tuntunin at Kundisyon; (ii) Mga Babala sa Risk; at (iii) Kabuuang Disclaimer. Kaya naman ang naturang nilalaman ay ituturing na pangkalahatang impormasyon lamang. Mangyaring isaalang-alang na ang mga nilalaman ng aming Online Trading Facility ay hindi paglikom, o alok, para magsagawa ng anumang transaksyon sa mga pinansyal na market. Ang pag-trade sa alinmang pinansyal na market ay nagtataglay ng mataas na lebel ng risk sa iyong kapital.
Lahat ng materyales na nakalathala sa aming Online Trading Facility ay nakalaan para sa layuning edukasyonal/pang-impormasyon lamang at hindi naglalaman – at hindi dapat ituring bilang naglalaman – ng payo at rekomendasyon na pangpinansyal, tungkol sa buwis sa pag-i-invest, o pang-trade, o tala ng aming presyo sa pag-trade, o alok para sa, o paglikom ng, transaksyon sa alinmang pinansyal na instrument o hindi ginustong pinansyal na promosyon.
Sa anumang nilalaman na galing sa ikatlong partido, pati na ang mga nilalaman na inihanda ng XM, ang mga naturang opinyon, balita, pananaliksik, pag-analisa, presyo, ibang impormasyon o link sa ibang mga site na makikita sa website na ito ay ibibigay tulad ng nandoon, bilang pangkalahatang komentaryo sa market at hindi ito nagtataglay ng payo sa pag-i-invest. Kung ang alinmang nilalaman nito ay itinuring bilang pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, kailangan mong isaalang-alang at tanggapin na hindi ito inilaan at inihanda alinsunod sa mga legal na pangangailangan na idinisenyo para maisulong ang pagsasarili ng pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, at dahil dito ituturing ito na komunikasyon sa marketing sa ilalim ng mga kaugnay na batas at regulasyon. Mangyaring siguruhin na nabasa at naintindihan mo ang aming Notipikasyon sa Hindi Independyenteng Pananaliksik sa Pag-i-invest at Babala sa Risk na may kinalaman sa impormasyong nakalagay sa itaas, na maa-access dito.
