French High Speed Train Network Sabotaged Ahead Of The 2024 Olympics Opening

JAKARTA France's high-speed train network known as France's Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) was sabotaged ahead of the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The attack caused chaos on the country's busiest rail line. This happened just hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics on Friday, July 26, 2024, at 19.45 pm local time.

The perpetrators carried out the action by destroying the signal box along the route linking Paris to cities, such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west, and Strasbourg in the east. Luckily, another attack on the Paris-Marseille route was thwarted.

This sabotage left hundreds of thousands of people stranded on train stations. Two security sources suspect hard-line left militant groups or environmental activists behind this action.

"Everything makes us confident that this is a criminal act," Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete told reporters at Gare du Nord.

This act that disrupts the railway network automatically adds to concerns ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics which will take place at the heart of Paris City.

According to reports, it is estimated that more than 300 thousand spectators will crowd the banks of the Sea River as the athletes parade through the heart of Paris City with a fleet of boats.

At this time improvements are underway, but disturbances are expected to last until the weekend. Therefore, all travelers are advised to postpone their trip.

"This attack is not a coincidence, it is an attempt to destabilize France," Valerie Pecresse, President of Paris Region, told reporters.

France deployed 45 thousand police, 10,000 troops, and two thousand private security agents to secure the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics.

In addition, snipers were alerted on the roofs of the building. They were all assisted by drones monitoring from the air.