German authorities suspect sabotage in railway fire near Dusseldorf

German authorities suspect sabotage after a fire on a major railway line disrupted services in western Germany, security sources said on Saturday.

The sources said it was unlikely that a technical fault caused the blaze, which broke out beside the tracks on the busy route between the cities of Dusseldorf and Cologne on Friday morning.

The embankment between Langenfeld and Leverkusen caught fire in two places, according to national operator Deutsche Bahn. The fire brigade extinguished the blaze, but several signalling cables were damaged, halting operations on that section of the line.

A short while after the security sources’ statement, a letter claiming responsibility appeared on the left-wing platform Indymedia from a known group called the Angry Birds Commando. In the letter, the group said incendiary devices were placed in a cable duct.

The letter stated the attack was carried out to stop the “mass extinction” caused by “technological escalation.”

Security sources told dpa they believe the letter to be genuine. The left-wing extremist group previously claimed responsibility for an attack on the main railway line between Dusseldorf and Duisburg around a year ago.

In January, it also claimed responsibility for a failed attack on a substation near Dusseldorf.

Criminal police are searching for witnesses, after technicians first discovered the fire near a railway bridge across the Wupper river on Friday afternoon and alerted the fire brigade.

A spokesman for Cologne police told dpa upon request that investigations were being conducted to confirm that the letter of responsibility was authentic.

Rail services remained disrupted on Saturday, with diversions, delays and cancellations affecting local and long-distance services. A Deutsche Bahn spokesman told dpa that repair work is set to continue until at least Saturday afternoon.

While the fires have been extinguished, the flames caused damage to several signal cables, meaning no trains can currently travel on the affected section, according to Deutsche Bahn.

Herbert Reul, interior minister for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, condemned the suspected sabotage, noting that such acts disrupt the daily lives of many people and wilfully accept “collateral damage.”

“These troublemakers claim they want to create a world where plants, animals and people are better off. And then they carry out an arson attack, of all times, just when there is a drought everywhere,” said Reul. “That alone shows that these people do not want a better world. These people want chaos. They aim to replace politics with violence. We will not accept that.”

Reul had previously warned that investigating the Angry Birds Commando was difficult because the group was not a cohesive organization.