A leftist group claims responsibility as Berlin struggles with a widespread power outage
Thousands of residents in southwest Berlin are still without electricity or heating, as the German capital experiences freezing temperatures and snowfall, following an attack suspected to be an arson targeting critical infrastructure.
The outage began after a cable bridge was attacked over the weekend, cutting power to about 45,000 homes. Stromnetz Berlin reported that power has been restored to around 14,000 homes so far, but full service restoration may take until Thursday.
The power outage forced some schools and kindergartens in the affected areas to remain closed on the first school day after the Christmas holiday. Hospitals relied on emergency generators to continue operating before being reconnected to the grid, while many nursing homes still suffer from power outages.
About 2,200 companies were affected by the outage, with only around 500 of them returning to the electrical grid. Relief organizations and the fire brigade established emergency shelters to help residents cope with the cold and lack of heating.
Authorities said that a message posted online claiming responsibility for the attack appears to be authentic. A leftist group calling itself Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group) announced that the attack targeted the fossil fuel industry and acknowledged that it caused power outages in affluent areas such as Wannsee, Zehlendorf, and Nikolassee, while apologizing to the lower-income residents of southwest Berlin.