2024 Paris Olympics: France’s Rail Network Suffers “Malicious" Attack Ahead of Opening Ceremony

France’s start to the 2024 Olympics has been derailed.

Hours before the Games’ Opening Ceremony, the country’s rail network (SNCF) has suffered coordinated arson attacks, according to French officials.

“Early this morning, acts of sabotage were carried out in a prepared and coordinated manner on SNCF installations,” Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The consequences on the rail network are massive and serious.”

And while expressing his gratitude to first responders and those restoring the network, Attal lamented the French citizens and tourists who had their plans upended and confirmed, "Our intelligence services and law enforcement are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts.”

The SCNF also provided additional details on the attacks in a news release, confirming “arson attacks were carried out to damage the installations,” affecting the Atlantic, North and East high-speed lines.

The release described the incidents as “a massive attack” and confirmed 250,000 passengers’ travels had been disrupted, with up to 800,000 more expected to be affected over the weekend.

SNCF Chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou told reporters that fiber optic cables—which were connected to signal boxes and other—in at least three locations had been set on fire.

Preliminary information from French law enforcement and intelligence organizations indicates that the sabotage attacks were likely carried out by anarchists or extreme leftist groups, NBC News reports citing two senior law enforcement and intelligence officials in the U.S. briefed on the situation. The two officials reportedly stressed the investigation is ongoing and this initial assessment is preliminary. 

According to a news release from Paris’ public prosecutor’s office, obtained by NBC News, an investigation had been opened including a charge of damage to property likely to harm the fundamental interest of the nation. A guilty verdict could, reportedly, carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and a fine of 225,000 euros, or slightly less than $250,000.

Meanwhile, some Olympic athletes and fans were left scrambling to adjust their plans.

Regional SNCF director Frank Dubourdieu told reporters, per CNN, that “of all four Olympic trains, only two were able to run, one was canceled and a third is being prepared,” with repairs likely to take at least a day to complete.

The most recent update to the SNCF’s X account, at the time of publishing, confirmed some traffic had resumed.

“The @SNCFReseau teams have mobilized massively since this morning,” read the update. “They carried out emergency repairs allowing a partial and very gradual resumption of traffic since 1 p.m.”

(NBC News and E! News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

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