Railway arson incident leads to state investigation
In Lehrte, Germany, a signal box caught fire on Friday, causing significant disruptions to rail traffic on the Berlin-Hannover line. The fire, approximately two kilometers from the signal box, was reported by the Federal Police.
The incident has resulted in delays for over 250 regional, long-distance, and freight trains since Friday evening. The specific location of the burned-out signal box is Lehrte, Germany.
Hannover police have not identified any suspects in connection with the arson, and the investigation is ongoing. The State Protection Office, a special unit within the Criminal Police that usually takes over investigations with a political or state-endangering background, has taken over the investigation of the fuse box in Lehrte due to similar incidents nationwide in recent times.
Witnesses who have seen suspicious persons or anything else relevant are asked to contact the Hannover Criminal Duty Office. The Criminal Duty Office secured traces and took the entire cabinet for examination.
The fire destroyed the switch cabinet and the cable system completely, according to Hannover police. Repairs to the control and safety equipment in Lehrte are progressing well and should be completed by this afternoon.
As of late morning, long-distance trains on the Hannover-Berlin connection can run again without diversions and delays. However, some trains are still canceled, and IC trains between Hannover and Magdeburg are still being diverted, causing about 25 minutes of delay.
The Interior Minister of Niedersachsen, Daniela Behrens (SPD), has not yet commented on the incident. The exact cause of the fire at the signal box in Lehrte is not specified in the article.
This incident follows a series of arson cases on other railway lines. Two arson cases on the Düsseldorf-Duisburg railway line were set off at the end of July in North Rhine-Westphalia, disrupting long-distance and regional traffic. The case in Wuppertal-Oberbarmen at the end of August, which also brought the State Protection Office into action, is still unsolved.
The incident affected tens of thousands of passengers, causing significant inconvenience and delays. The current status of the investigation is still too early and too vague, according to a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. The Interior Ministry urges the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activities to the authorities.
Read also:
- United States tariffs pose a threat to India, necessitating the recruitment of adept negotiators or strategists, similar to those who had influenced Trump's decisions.
- Weekly happenings in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag)
- Southwest region's most popular posts, accompanied by an inquiry:
- Discussion between Putin and Trump in Alaska could potentially overshadow Ukraine's concerns
