"A co-ordinated act of sabotage" struck France's state-owned rail network Wednesday morning, adding to delays as the country entered the eighth day of a paralyzing transport strike.
A cable worker walks past damaged cable arteries on a high-speed train line in Varredes, eastern Paris, on Wednesday.
(Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images)
The national SNCF railway authority said there was a series of acts of vandalism on its high-speed lines in various parts of the country during the night.
"We are faced by a co-ordinated act of sabotage of installations which are aimed at preventing the expected return of [rail] traffic," Guillaume Pepy of SNCF told a radio station, according to Agence France-Presse.
SNCF stopped short of blaming strikers for the overnight vandalism, which included burning cables and damage to signaling systems. Labour unions denied any connection.
Among the acts of vandalism was a large blaze on one branch that damaged signals along 30 kilometres of track.
SNCF official Mireille Faugere said vandals stuck burning rags into railway signal boxes.
She also said electric cables running beneath tracks had been lit and then reburied, making it difficult to locate the trouble spots.
President Nicolas Sarkozy called the attacks unacceptable and ordered his justice minister to pursue those responsible.
Train drivers and Paris Metro employees have been staying off the job to protest Sarkozy's plan to trim their retirement benefits. Sarkozy has refused to back down on his pension reform plan.
"One thing the government has on its side is that it was elected specifically on a platform to do just what it's doing right now, and for the most part the public stays behind that platform and the ideas of the president," said CBC's David Common, reporting from Paris.
A woman uses a minibicycle with a pillion passenger to move around in Paris on Wednesday.
(Remy de la Mauviniere/Associated Press)
Talks were set to resume Wednesday involving the French government, unions and management with the aim of ending the strike that has snarled rail traffic since Nov. 14.
Sarkozy has accused strikers of holding transport users "hostage" and he pressed employees to return to work.
The head of France's main employers' association described the strike as a "real catastrophe for our economy. "The economic cost is incalculable, probably gigantic," Laurence Parisot told RTL radio.
On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of civil servants joined striking transit workers for a one-day strike in support.
In what is believed to be unrelated to the acts of vandalism on the mainland, two trains collided on the country's island of Corsica on Wednesday, injuring at least 24 people, according to local news reports.
The passengers suffered cuts and bruises, but no life-threatening injuries. Few details were immediately available.
With files from the Associated PressRelated
Internal Links
Video
- David Common reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 1:55)
- Play: Real Media »
- Play: QuickTime »
More World Headlines »
- Karzai, Musharraf target Taliban
- The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan have begun a two-day meeting to talk about co-operating in the fight against insurgents based in the lawless border area between the two countries.
- 6 bodies found east of Seattle
- The bodies of six people have been found at a rural property east of Seattle, King County sheriff's detectives said Wednesday.
- French aid workers convicted of taking Chadian children
- Six French aid workers have been sentenced to eight years' forced labour by a court in Chad for trying to abduct children from the African country.
- Zoo officials investigate after deadly tiger attack
- Officials are trying to figure out how a tiger that killed a man got out of its enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo, while two people who were injured remain in hospital Wednesday.
- Woman's death marks 16th bird flu fatality in Egypt
- A 25-year-old Egyptian woman has died of bird flu after she apparently contracted the disease from domestic fowl, a health official said Wednesday.
World Features
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles
Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window
