\n The activist group Vulkangruppe \u2013 or Volcano Group \u2013 claimed responsibility for the attack, citing the role that fossil fuels and AI play in accelerating the climate crisis.\n <\/p>\n
\n Roughly 45,000 homes and more than 2,000 businesses in Berlin\u2019s wealthy southwestern districts were affected by the outage, which lasted more than four days.\n <\/p>\n
\n The outage is believed to be the longest in Berlin\u2019s postwar history.\n <\/p>\n
\n The attack on Berlin\u2019s power supply occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning, when a fire broke out on a cable duct over the Teltow Canal, which runs through the city\u2019s south. The blaze damaged several high-voltage cables near Berlin\u2019s Lichterfelde power plant.\n <\/p>\n
\n Authorities put the fire out, but not before power had been cut at around 6 a.m. The outage affected up to 45,000 households and 2,200 business spanning four districts in southern Berlin, including Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde, according to Stromnetz Berlin, the operator of the city\u2019s electricity network.\n <\/p>\n
\n The attack left people without power and heating amid nighttime temperatures of \u201310 degrees celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), disrupted overground train lines and hit mobile phone connections.\n <\/p>\n
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\n The Vulkangruppe later claimed responsibility for starting the fire, in a letter sent to police. \u201cWe successfully sabotaged the gas-fired power station in Berlin-Lichterfelde,\u201d said the letter, which has been circulated online.\n <\/p>\n
\n This, the group said, resulted in power outages in Berlin\u2019s \u201caffluent\u201d neighborhoods.\n <\/p>\n
\n Vulkangruppe apologized to the less wealthy residents of southwestern Berlin in the letter, saying that the goal was to target the fossil fuel industry and the action was a \u201cnecessary measure against the expansion of fossil fuel-fired power plants\u201d in Germany.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cPower outages were not the goal of the action; the fossil fuel industry was,\u201d it said.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe know we must stop this destruction. We know we are not alone. Don\u2019t give up hope for a world where life has space, not greed for money, power, and destruction,\u201d it said, adding: \u201cPeople call us eco-terrorists, yet we respect life. They call us irresponsible, yet we take responsibility to end this imperial, destructive way of life.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Berlin mayor Kai Wegner told reporters Wednesday that the incident was \u201cnot a minor arson attack, not sabotage, but a terrorist attack by a left-wing extremist organization with massive consequences for the supply of many Berliners.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n German federal prosecutors said Wednesday they had opened an investigation into the incident, with suspected offences relating to membership in a terrorist organization, anti-constitutional sabotage and arson.\n <\/p>\n
\n An 83-year-old woman died during the power outages, according to deputy police chief Marco Langner. She was found by a relative, who called an ambulance, but emergency workers were unable to save her, Langner said Wednesday, without offering further details about the circumstances of her death.\n <\/p>\n
\n He added that there had been reports of burglaries during the blackout.\n <\/p>\n
\n In addition to the power outages in homes and businesses, the attack forced the suspension of train services on multiple lines of Berlin\u2019s overground S-Bahn.\n <\/p>\n
\n Mobile phone networks were also disrupted. Thomas Ohm, a resident in Nikolassee, told CNN: \u201cInformation came extremely late because there was no mobile reception and we did not know whether it was in Berlin and all of Germany or even worldwide.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Five hospitals in the affected regions were forced to switch to emergency back-up generators. Stromnetz Berlin said power was restored to these hospitals by Sunday.\n <\/p>\n
\n The electricity operator said the gradual restoration of power to customers began at 11 a.m. Wednesday, but warned residents against the use of high-powered electrical appliances immediately after power was switched back on.\n <\/p>\n
\n One Berlin resident affected by the outage, Thomas Dastig, told CNN the experience was \u201ccreepy.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cMy coldest room was 4 degrees celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit) and my warmest was 8 degrees celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit)\u2026 I was afraid of my pipes freezing,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Another resident, Daniel W\u00f6ste, said he worked with his sister to organize generators to eight homes in their neighborhood.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe especially looked after the elderly,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Domenico Castronovo, the owner of a small pizzeria in the Berlin district of Nikolassee, told CNN the outage had had \u201cserious consequences\u201d for many local businesses.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cDue to the interruption in our electricity supply, we were forced to temporarily close, resulting in the loss of large quantities of food and stored supplies,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n A few kilometers from the affected areas, life continued as normal, with shops and restaurants open and fellow Berliners offering beds or showers to those affected.\n <\/p>\n
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\n In the wake of the attack, hundreds of police officers were deployed in neighborhoods affected by the outages, illuminating areas after nightfall with lighting masts, as well as establishing mobile stations. Police also set up a hotline for those affected.\n <\/p>\n
\n The Vulkangruppe is a far-left extremist group in Germany driven by anarchist, anti-capitalist and radical environmental ideologies.\n <\/p>\n
\n The group is known for carrying out arson attacks. According to Germany\u2019s domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, the group has been behind several similar attacks targeting critical infrastructure since 2011.\n <\/p>\n