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The transformer station in Dresden
Photo:
Tino Plunert / dpa
According to the current state of knowledge, a large-scale power failure in Dresden was probably caused by a metal-coated balloon.
In the course of the evening, the local criminal investigation investigated whether this balloon was deliberately controlled or accidentally reached the neuralgic point of the Dresden Süd feed-in substation, as reported by the network operator Sachsen Energie.
When investigating the cause of the malfunction, charred remains of a flying object were found.
The evaluations of the investigations continued.
According to the information, 300,000 households in the entire supply area in Dresden were temporarily affected, including customers from industry.
The disruption was also noticeable in surrounding cities such as Radebeul, Radeberg and Freital.
Sachsen Energie announced that at 3 p.m., 95 percent of the households were supplied again.
False alarms, stuck elevators, flooding
The fire brigade and rescue service moved out 34 times in Dresden alone because of the power failure.
The emergency services were alerted 24 times because elevators got stuck.
Automatic fire alarm systems caused four false alarms.
The Georg-Arnold-Bad was flooded by sewage because a lifting system did not work due to the power failure.
Rescuers also went out several times to see patients whose home ventilators only worked for a limited time as a result of the power failure.
ngo / dpa