Travel to Paris from the rest of France and Europe was rendered impossible on Friday due to massive and “criminal” acts of vandalism, including arson assaults, on the country’s high-speed rail network.
According to reports, the attack occurred just hours before the Olympic opening ceremony and during a walkout by employees at a five-star hotel in Paris where officials from the Games are being hosted.
Prosecutors in Paris launched a nationwide inquiry, stating that the crimes might carry terms of 15 to 20 years.
French officials denounced the train arson assaults as “criminal actions,” despite the fact that they showed no indication of a clear connection to the Games.
Thousands of passengers experienced delays as a result of three fires that were reported close to the tracks on the high-speed lines of Atlantique, Nord, and Est.
Two German showjumping athletes who were traveling to Paris by train to participate in the opening ceremony were among those impacted.
Due to the French closures, both were forced to turn back in Belgium and missed the ceremony.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that France’s intelligence services have been mobilised to find the perpetrators and of “acts of sabotage” which he described as “prepared and co-ordinated.”
It was “a premeditated, calculated, coordinated attack” that indicates “a desire to seriously harm” the French people, the rail company’s chief executive Jean-Pierre Farandou said.
Mr Farandou also said that railway maintenance workers managed to thwart a suspected sabotage attempt along tracks heading south-east of Paris when they spotted intruders on the line.
Also on Friday, the French airport of Basel-Mulhouse on the border with Germany and Switzerland was evacuated in the morning and remained temporarily closed “for safety reasons,” the airport said. It wasn’t clear whether there was a connection to the rail attacks.
The travel disruption came a day after workers at the exclusive Hotel du Collectionneur went on strike.
The left-wing French union federation CGT said that the employees were demanding a pay increase, having not received a raise for seven years.
The workers were forced to take the action after a fifth round of negotiations between the unions and employers failed on Wednesday.
Management at the hotel said: “Negotiations with the unions are under way, without affecting the operation of our hotel.”
