Power To Be Restored To South-western Berlin Five Days After Attack

BERLIN, Jan 7 (Bernama-dpa) -- Power is set to be restored to all of south-western Berlin on Wednesday after hundreds of thousands of residents were left without electricity and heating for days following an attack on the grid that caused the longest outage in the German capital's post-war history, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

Some 45,000 households and over 2,200 businesses in Berlin's Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde neighbourhoods were left without power early Saturday after high-voltage cables leading to a power station were set ablaze.

Thousands of households have since been reconnected, and the city administration told dpa that operator Stromnetz Berlin aims to have everyone back on the grid later today, after previously setting a Thursday deadline.

"We are working on restoring power supply in the course of the day," a spokesman for the company confirmed.

Some 19,900 households and some 850 businesses were still without electricity for a fifth consecutive day on Wednesday morning, as temperatures remained below freezing.

In a letter of responsibility posted online on Sunday, the left-wing extremist Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group) said it "successfully sabotaged" a gas power station in Lichterfelde.

The group said its primary aim was to target the fossil fuel industry, noting that the action "resulted in power outages in the more affluent districts of Wannsee, Zehlendorf and Nikolassee".

"We apologise to the less affluent residents of south-west Berlin," it said.

Berlin authorities consider the letter to be authentic, with Mayor Kai Wegner describing the attack as an act of terrorism. Germany's top law enforcement agency has since taken over the investigations, with prosecutors in Karlsruhe probing anti-constitutional sabotage, membership of a terrorist organisation, arson and disruption of public services.

-- BERNAMA-dpa