Overview

• An interim link failed around 20:00 Wednesday, pushing the number of customers without power back to roughly 20,000 after earlier progress toward restoration.
• The grid operator still targets full service by Thursday evening after arson fires on two masts in Johannisthal/Adlershof initially cut electricity to about 50,000 customers.
• Stromnetz Berlin calls the outage the longest of its kind in at least 25 years in the capital, with full normalization of infrastructure expected to take weeks beyond reconnection.
• Police are investigating the attack and consider a claim of responsibility posted on Indymedia likely authentic, with inquiries focused on planning and possible insider knowledge.
• Transport and services were disrupted, several schools closed, emergency calling and mobile networks faltered, and retailers largely saved frozen goods by moving them to refrigerated trucks; no hospital lies in the affected zone.