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The German army is helping to refuel emergency power generators in Berlin as thousands of homes remained without power on Monday following the sabotage of cables at the weekend.<\/p>\n
The Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, received a request for assistance from the state of Berlin during the day, a spokeswoman for the Operational Command told dpa.<\/p>\n
The operation began in the evening at a depot of the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) in the capital’s affected south-west. Left-wing extremists claimed responsibility for the incendiary attack on a cable bridge over a canal early on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The request was for the provision of around 18,000 litres of diesel, including a tanker truck. The operating crews are to be “shift-ready” to ensure critical services are maintained, the spokeswoman added.<\/p>\n
“There is a particular focus on supplying care facilities,” she said.<\/p>\n
The army support operation is provisionally planned to last until 11 pm (2200 GMT) on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Initially, 45,000 households and more than 2,200 businesses were affected by the damage to the supply grid. Over 17,000 customers since had their power restored.<\/p>\n
The operator Stromnetz Berlin is attempting to repair the high-voltage power lines as quickly as possible. It was previously announced that the damage would be completely repaired by Thursday.<\/p>\n