BERLIN, January 4. . Berlin authorities declared a state of emergency after several areas in the southwest of the city were left without electricity due to burned cables.
“Senator (interior) Iris Spranger has declared a state of emergency due to a power outage in Berlin,” the Senate Office for Internal Affairs and Sports said in a notice posted on the social network
On Saturday, about 50,000 households and 2,000 retail stores in Berlin were without electricity due to a fire on a cable suspension bridge. Police did not immediately rule out arson, which was later confirmed. The radical left-wing anarchist group Vulcan, which has operated under various names in Berlin and Brandenburg for 14 years, claimed responsibility for the vandalism. Left-wing extremists, in a letter to the police, declared their desire to “sever power from those in power” and openly called for new acts of sabotage at energy facilities, saying their arson was aimed against the “imperialist way of life.”
To date, electricity has been restored to about 7 thousand households. At the same time, it is expected that only by January 8 will the consequences of the arson be completely resolved. As of today, at least 19 schools in the southwest of the German capital will continue to close.
