Numerous households in Munich were affected by a power outage in the east of the city.
Now the state security has taken over the investigation.
After the power failure in Munich, the state security investigates - there is a suspicion of arson.
(see update at 10:34 a.m.)
A Munich doctor's practice had to dispose of 50 cans of Astrazeneca vaccine.
(see update at 6.45 p.m.)
The police have received new information.
(see update from May 23, 11.43 a.m.)
This news ticker is continuously updated.
Update from May 23, 11.43 a.m
.: After the large-scale power failure in Munich on Friday, the police received new information about a possible arson from a neighborhood survey.
The new information would now have to be checked, as a police spokesman said on Sunday.
In parts of the districts of Haidhausen, Ramersdorf and Berg am Laim, a fire in an excavation pit early Friday morning caused an unusually long power outage in around 20,000 households.
State security is currently investigating suspected political crime.
State security investigates after power failure in Munich - weekly ration of vaccine ends up in the garbage
Update from May 22nd, 6.45 p.m.:
About the amount of vaccine that is inoculated per week, a Munich doctor's practice had to throw away after the power failure.
Because the cooling no longer worked, 50 cans of Astrazeneca ended up in the garbage, reports the doctor to the
Bavarian radio
.
Power failure in Munich: full supply restored
Update from May 22nd, 4:32 p.m.:
The municipal utilities share the next welcome update: All households in Munich have electricity again.
The network damage was repaired almost three hours earlier than forecast.
Even so, it took an unusually long time.
From Friday morning to Saturday afternoon, around 20,000 households and Haidhausen, Ramersdorf and Berg am Laim were affected.
Update from May 22nd, 12:34 p.m.:
Good news from Stadtwerke München: The basic supply for all affected households in the east of the city has now been restored.
“Private households should no longer have any restrictions,” it said.
Industrial and commercial customers with higher electricity requirements are now to be gradually reconnected to the grid.
By 6 p.m. at the latest, they want to have completed the full supply.
After a power failure in Munich: State security takes over the investigation
Update from May 22, 10:34 a.m.:
After the major power outage in Munich, the state
security
has taken over the investigation.
"If the supply lines are on fire, there may be political motives," said a police spokesman on Saturday.
However, the investigations went in all directions and the investigators could not yet explicitly say that it was unequivocally arson and what motives could be behind it.
State security is currently examining some evidence from witnesses.
The Munich I public prosecutor's office also only pointed out that the state security department, the criminal specialist department 4 of the Munich police headquarters, has taken over the investigation, which mainly deals with political crimes.
Update from May 22nd, 9.43 a.m.:
Rainfalls have made the nightly work of the municipal utilities more difficult.
Nevertheless, one is confident that the basic supply in the east of Munich will be restored by noon.
According to the current status, five cables still need to be repaired.
“The full supply is expected to be reached by 6:00 p.m. today at the latest,” declared the municipal utilities.
Update from May 22, 6:09 a.m.:
When will all affected households have electricity again?
Due to the major damage, the municipal utilities still reckoned that the work on an at least provisional supply could drag on well into Saturday morning.
Fire in Munich paralyzes thousands of households - Brandfander determine
Origin notification:
Munich - It could have been the work of arsonists: 20,000 households in Munich were without electricity for many hours on Friday. "Now we have the first findings that suggest this suspicion of arson," said a spokesman for the Munich police headquarters twelve hours after the incident. At this point in time, not all those affected were reconnected to the network. Many residents even had to be prepared for an uncomfortable evening - the full supply could still take until Saturday morning, announced a spokesman for the municipal utilities.
The unusually extensive and long-lasting power outage occurred early in the morning after a fire in a construction pit *, in which around 50 medium-voltage power cables were completely destroyed. As a result, around 150 transformer stations failed. "The power line, which is actually laid underground, was exposed and secured with a site fence," said a spokesman for the fire brigade. According to him, several passers-by heard a strange crackle and then a bang. When the fire department arrived, flames blazed from the pit.
The fire picture in the approximately one meter deep pit indicates arson, the police spokesman explained later. At first he did not want to say any more details, the analyzes by the fire investigators had not yet been completed. A political dimension also remained unclear at first. "We are still at the beginning of the investigation," emphasized the police spokesman. "At this point in time, we cannot provide any information as to whether there are any connections with other offenses."
It would not be the first arson attack on infrastructure in the state capital: the investigators spoke of a "series" last year.
Since November 2019, strangers had set fire to radio masts and other infrastructure facilities in Munich several times *.
There was a total damage of around 3.6 million euros.
The investigators assigned the crimes to left-wing criminals, but corresponding information on the scene did not lead to any specific people.
The investigation was therefore discontinued.
+
Burning power cable: The fire resulted in a widespread power outage in Munich.
© Munich fire brigade / dpa
The damage that occurred on Friday is also likely to be enormous: around 20,000 households were affected in parts of the districts of Haidhausen, Ramersdorf and Berg am Laim.
The first of them came back on line after four hours, after eight hours about a third were supplied again, as the municipal utilities announced.
For the rest of them it was time to wait.
Munich: Fire paralyzes households and affects local transport
In addition to numerous shops and businesses, the local tram depot was also affected.
The result: the railways could not leave in the morning, there were significant failures and delays on all lines, including in rush hour traffic.
Only in the morning did the clock return to normal, as the Munich transport company announced.
Almost 20 traffic lights also failed, which is why police officers regulated traffic in many places.
The municipal utilities gradually reconnected the affected area to the grid from the edge.
However, the restoration of the supply took time, especially in the area of the Ostbahnhof, where the fire had triggered the power failure at around 3:50 a.m.
Exactly how many people were affected by the disorder remained open.
A spokeswoman said the Association of Bavarian Energy and Water Management had no statistics on comparable incidents in the Free State.
Nevertheless, it is clear that it is an unusually severe power outage in terms of both spatial and temporal expansion.
"You can only see that from the fact that emergency power systems and generators are usually designed for a power failure of two hours."
* Merkur.de and tz.de are part of the IPPEN.MEDIA range
List of rubric lists: © Munich Fire Brigade / dpa
