Arsonists Attack French High-Speed Rail System Hours Before Opening Ceremonies Of The Paris Olympics

PARIS (AP) — Arsonists attacked France’s high-speed rail network early Friday, setting fires that paralyzed train travel to Paris for some 800,000 people across Europe, including athletes heading to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

Targeting remote locations far from the capital, the apparently coordinated attacks sought to cut off rail routes into the city from all directions. The fires were predominantly set in pipes containing critical signaling cables for the system known as the TGV.

There were no reports of injuries. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the damage would not affect the ceremony in which 7,000 Olympic athletes were due to sail down the Seine past iconic Parisian monuments such as Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum and the Musee d’Orsay.

Fires were reported before dawn near the tracks on three separate lines, causing widespread disruptions. Another arson attempt, in the south in Vergigny, was thwarted by rail agents who scared off several suspects.

French authorities did not publicly comment on who might have carried out the attacks or why; none of them said the sabotage was directly related to the Games.