Overview
- A nighttime blaze at the Reutlingen‑West substation cut electricity to thousands of households and left parts of the city and nearby communities without power on Monday, forcing a hospital to rely on emergency generators and causing damage estimated in the millions.
- Forensic teams identified several separate burn sites on the substation grounds and secured traces that the Landeskriminalamt said will be tested for accelerants, prompting the creation of an investigative group called 'Fischer' led by state security and the LKA antiterror centre.
- Federal and state interior ministers described the incident as likely deliberate and investigators are treating the case as possible intentional disruption of public utilities while stressing the probe remains open and no claim of responsibility or confirmed suspects have been publicly identified.
- Separately, police in Görlitz have detained two men on suspicion they damaged building pipework before a May 18 house collapse that killed three people, and in Ratingen a 42‑year‑old daughter is the main suspect in the recent killing of a 77‑year‑old woman as authorities continue those criminal inquiries.
- Security officials are comparing the Reutlingen fire to earlier suspected left‑wing attacks on Berlin power infrastructure, a connection that has raised questions about the vulnerability of electricity sites and could lead to stepped‑up protection and forensic scrutiny of critical networks.