PARIS — Arsonists launched a coordinated attack on a high-speed train in France, paralyzing part of the country’s rail network ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday night.
French national rail company SNCF said in a statement that services had been suspended on three lines due to a “major attack.” SNCF said some 800,000 travellers would be affected by the train cancellations by the end of the week, and advised people to “postpone their journeys and avoid going to train stations.”
The fires all occurred far from Paris, along rail lines that connect the capital to other French cities, including on the Paris-Lille line, where the U.S. men’s basketball team will play Serbia on Sunday. SNCF also said “malicious acts were prevented” along the southeastern line between Paris and Lyon.
France’s Transport Minister Patrice Vergliette strongly condemned “a criminal act that jeopardizes the holiday travel of many French people.” In an interview with French television station BFMTV on Friday morning, Sports Minister Amélie Oudea Castellas called the attack an attempt to “disrupt” the Paris Olympics.
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