Far-left extremists are suspected of being behind last week’s sabotage of the country’s SNCF rail network, which coincided with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
Saboteurs attacked France’s high-speed train network on Friday with pre-dawn attacks on signal substations and cables at critical points, causing travel chaos hours before the opening ceremony.
“We have identified the profiles of several people in connection with the arrest of the suspects,” Darmanin told France 2 TV, adding that the saboteurs’ modus operandi bears the hallmarks of far-left extremists, without giving examples, Reuters reports.
All trains were back in service by Monday morning after teams worked day and night over the weekend to repair the damage, Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said on RTL radio.
A total of 800,000 people faced travel disruption due to the attacks, including 100,000 people whose trains had to be cancelled, he said.
