Olympics Chaos as French Rail Network Hit With ‘Massive’ Arson Attacks

The high-speed TGV railway network of France was hit by an array of coordinated arson attacks merely hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics .

With flames engulfing railway tracks at strategic points across France, nearly a million people on their way to watch the Olympic games were affected, Knewz.com has learned.

Prosecutors in the country have already opened a criminal investigation into the attack, believed to be the work of saboteurs .

SNCF, the state-owned railway operator, has stated that the suspected saboteurs targeted installations along some of the busiest TGV lines that connect Pari with Northern, Eastern, and Western France.

It was reported that the arsonists tried to attack the Paris -Marseille line as well, but their efforts were foiled.

Jean-Pierre Farandou, the Chief Executive of SNCF, stated that the attackers set fire to the conduits that contain the cables carrying safety information for drivers or control point mechanisms.

“There’s a huge number of bundled cables. We have to repair them one by one,” Farandou said, adding that this was a manual operation that required hundreds of workers.

The arson attack, which was reportedly carried out using explosive devices, has prompted a high alert among law enforcement authorities in France, who are determined to catch those responsible.

While the nation has deployed 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers, and 2,000 private security agents to guard the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics, the security in the rest of France is much lighter, which could be one of the reasons the arson attack was possible.

The criminal probe into the incident is being headed by the organized crimes unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office, with assistance from the French anti-terrorist sub-directorate (SDAT)—a branch of law enforcement that monitors hard-left, extreme-right, and radical environmental groups.

Laure Beccuau, the public prosecutor of Paris, mentioned that the investigation is being carried out on the grounds of “deliberate damage of property likely to harm the fundamental interests of the nation” as well as criminal association.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said that the security forces are hoping to make “swift arrests,” adding that he is currently not aware of any threat to the Paris Olympics itself.

It is worth noting that several news outlets have cited security sources to claim that similar arson methods were usually used by extreme-left groups, although no evidence has been uncovered yet that points to the validity of this claim. Furthermore, no group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.

“What we know, what we see, is that this operation was prepared, coordinated, that nerve centres were targeted, which shows a certain knowledge of the network to know where to strike,” French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said in a statement.

“[I would like to] say to the French people that I share their anger and sadness at a time when they wanted only one thing – to rejoin their families, their friends, and, for some, to attend the Olympic Games,” he further said.

A statement from the SNCF claimed that the arson strike on July 26 was “a massive attack on a large scale,” meant to “paralyze the TGV network.”

Valérie Pécresse, President of the regional council of Île-de-France, echoed the SNCF’s claims as she said , “Clearly this attack is not a coincidence, it aimed to destabilize France at the moment the Olympic and Paralympic Games are launched.”

Reuters reported that the Paris Olympics authority is working together with the SNCF to assess the situation.

The railway operator mentioned that the trains are expected to resume operation as normal on the eastern line from the morning of July 27. However, 80% of high-speed trains on the northern TGV routes will be running with one to two-hour delays.