"Tens of thousands of homes in Berlin will be without electricity until Thursday as authorities struggle to repair power cables seriously damaged in a suspected arson attack, officials have said. Some households may also be without heating as the outage has affected local systems at a time when the German capital is blanketed in snow and temperatures are hovering around freezing."
"Emergency services were alerted early on Saturday that several high-voltage cables on a bridge near a power plant had gone up in flames. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, but about 45,500 homes and 2,200 businesses in districts in south-west Berlin were left without power, according to the grid operator Stromnetz Berlin. A pedestrian walks through the Lichterfelde district in western Berlin after a major power outage. Photograph: Filip Singer/EPA"
High-voltage power cables on a bridge near a power plant in Berlin were damaged in a suspected arson attack, causing extensive outages. Firefighters extinguished the blaze early on Saturday, but 45,500 homes and 2,200 businesses lost power across south-west districts. Damage to the network means 35,000 households will remain without electricity until Thursday afternoon, while remaining homes should have power restored by early Sunday. The outage has affected the local district heating system, creating heating shortages during snowy, near-freezing conditions. Police deployed about 160 officers to investigate and urged residents to stay elsewhere if possible, conserve mobile phone use and keep torches ready. Cold weather is hindering underground cable repairs and prolonging restoration work.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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