Germany news: Arson suspected in large-scale power outage
06/08/2026 June 8, 2026 Thousands cut off in mass power outage, arson suspected The outage has also affected transport services, hospitals and nursing homes Image
06/08/2026 June 8, 2026 Thousands cut off in mass power outage, arson suspected The outage has also affected transport services, hospitals and nursing homes Image: Dimitri Drofitsch/Eibner-Pressefoto/picture alliance A large-scale electricity outage has left around 10,000 households without power in the southwestern city of Reutlingen, with the grid operator suspecting arson as the cause. According to a police spokesperson, critical facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes are also affected.
Telephone and internet services were also only partially functioning. The city, around 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Stuttgart in the state of Baden-Württemberg, is home to about 100,000 people. A spokesperson for Netze BW said evidence of three fires had been found at a substation, while the fence and grounds outside the facility were damaged. The substation failed shortly before 2 a.m. local time (0000 GMT).
Hours later, power had only been restored to about half of the 20,000 households affected. It was not immediately clear when power would return to the remaining affected parts of Reutlingen and its surrounding areas. The suspected arson attack has already caused millions of euros in damage. State police said all possible causes were being investigated and that arson experts were part of the probe. This is standard for such large-scale outages.
The incident bears echoes of far-left arson attacks in Berlin in September which left around 50,000 homes and 2,000 businesses without electricity for several days. In January this year, an arson attack on high-voltage cables in the capital city caused the largest power outage in Berlin since World War II, leaving thousands without power and heating in freezing temperatures for multiple days.
The BriefWire