Investigators have found more evidence that a large-scale power outage that hit the western German city of Reutlingen on Monday was caused by arson.
They are now assuming that the substation fire that caused the power cut was started deliberately, based on the preliminary findings of the investigation so far, the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to the current state of the investigation, one or more as yet unknown perpetrators are believed to have entered the premises to start fires in several locations. It is reported that accelerants were used.
The fire at the Reutlingen-West substation broke out during Sunday night.
As a result, the substation went out of service in the early hours of Monday morning, and another facility was also affected. At times, this left tens of thousands of people without power for hours. A hospital and industrial and commercial customers were also affected.
Reutlingen has a total population of just under 120,000.
Earlier reports suggest the total cost of repairing the facility is likely to run into several million euros.
According to the network operator Netze BW, three separate fire sites were found and the fence and grounds in front of the facility were damaged.
It is unclear who might be behind the attack. No claim of responsibility has been received.
The incident is reminiscent of two arson attacks on the power supply in Berlin, allegedly carried out by left-wing extremists, which cut power supplies to thousands of people for several days.
