Arson Attacks Paralyze French High-Speed Rail System Before Olympics Start

France’s high-speed rail network was hit Friday with widespread “criminal” acts of vandalism, including arson attacks, paralyzing travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe only hours before the grand opening ceremony of the Olympics, Thomas Adamson and Jeffrey Schaeffer reported for CNN.

French officials said they were investigating whether they were linked to the Olympic Games or not. I Photo: Paris 2024 X

French officials said they were investigating whether they were linked to the Olympic Games or not.

The disruptions as the world’s eye was turning to Paris were expected to affect a quarter of a million people and endure through the weekend, and possibly longer, officials said.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on the social media platform X that France’s intelligence services have been mobilized to find the perpetrators, Tom Nouvian, Angela Charlton, and James Jordan also reported for AP.

Attal characterized them as “acts of sabotage,” which were “prepared and coordinated.”

There were no known reports of injuries. Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete described people fleeing from the scene of fires and the discovery of incendiary devices.

“Everything indicates that these are criminal fires,” he said. The incidents paralyzed several high-speed lines linking Paris to the rest of France and to neighboring countries, Vergriete told BFM television, Danica Kirka, and Samuel Petrequin reported for AP.