Name: Berliners face days without power after sabotage | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-01-06T08:29:52.000Z
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Large parts of southwest Berlin are still in the dark after a suspected arson attack triggered a major power outage.

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Berlin's mayor says that it was likely carried out by left wing political extremists.

Daily life has been disrupted for tens of thousands of households as emergency crews work to restore power.

97 year old Ingeberg should be sleeping in her own bed.

Instead, she's spending the night in a sports hall.

She is one of tens of thousands left without power in Berlin after a fire knocked out electricity across large parts of the city.

Emergency services turned this hall into a shelter, a place to warm up, to charge phones and to get online.

How can you let a nearly 100-year-old woman sleep on a camp bed?

But you can't put a woman who is almost 100 years old here.

Many residents found their own solutions, staying with friends or in temporary accommodation.

Others came here just to escape the cold.

I have to say this is really affecting me on an existential level.

Now you realize I'm about to start crying.

We don't see ourselves staying in our flat for four or five days, just surviving.

That's why we are here, having a hot drink, using the Internet and trying to figure out what to do next.

The blackout was caused by a fire on a cable bridge near the Lichterfelder power station, cutting electricity in several large districts in the city.

On Sunday, a left wing extremist group called the Volkhangruppe in claimed responsibility, saying the attack was aimed at Germany's use of fossil fuels.

They say the goal was to sabotage a gas fired power plant, triggering outages in wealthier parts of the capital.

Police are still searching for those responsible.

There is an alleged letter of confession and this must now be scrutinized.

I deliberately said allegedly left wing extremist offenses.

The pressure to act lies with the police.

Around 50,000 households remain without electricity, while many shops and services are still closed.

Relief teams are deployed across the area, guiding residents to emergency support.

We are simply trying to give the population a sense of security and keep them informed.

Berlin's grid operator says crews are working flat out to solve the problem.

Power is expected to be fully restored by Thursday afternoon.

Until then, thousands wait, hoping the lights come back on soon.

DW's Alex Gerst has been spending time in southwest Berlin, where people have been without power.

He sent us an update about the situation there.

This is what tens of thousands of Berliners could face after a major power outage caused by an arson attack on a sensitive cable connecting this part of the city to electricity.

Usually behind me, you would see lights on in the apartments.

Now, most of those apartments, they are left in the dark.

You can see some candles burning and some windows.

But we also talked to some people living here, and

they told us that they are preferring to stay at the houses of their friends, of their families, because it's just too cold to stay in those apartments, because also without electricity, the heating in those buildings is not working properly.

They also told us that they have security concerns now because all of those areas here, they are left alone.

So they fear that possibly people could take advantage of the situation, they could exploit the situation and break into those apartments.

There are special police forces out in the city to prevent this from happening.

But there's, of course, major concerns here in this part of the city and, of course, all wilderness.

They hope that this situation indeed will pass by Thursday.