PARIS — Arsonists carried out coordinated attacks on France’s high-speed train line, paralyzing parts of the country’s rail network ahead of Friday night’s Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
Service on three lines was disrupted because of the “massive attack,” France’s national railway company, SNCF, said in a statement. Train cancellations will impact about 800,000 travelers by the end of the weekend, SNCF said, advising people to “postpone their trips and not go to the station.”
Each of the fires were set well outside Paris along rail lines connecting other French cities to the country’s capital. This includes the line between Paris and Lille, where Sunday the USA men’s basketball team will take on Serbia. SNCF also said “a malicious act was foiled” along its southeast line connecting Paris and Lyon.
Patrice Vergriete, France’s transport minister, strongly condemned the “criminal actions which will compromise the vacation departures of many French people.” In an interview with French TV station BFMTV on Friday morning, sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera called the attacks an attempt to “sabotage” the Paris Olympics.
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