Tuesday, September 9
50,000 households without power due to fire, police suspect arson
A major power outage has occurred in south-east Berlin (Treptow-Köpenick), affecting around 50,000 households and businesses, according to grid operator Stromnetz Berlin. Entire streets and public transport services have been impacted.
The fire department reports that emergency numbers 110 and 112 are also down in the affected area. A fire on two power lines in Berlin-Johannisthal, which broke out at around 03:30 on Tuesday morning, appears to be the cause. Firefighters have since extinguished the blaze, which police suspect was caused by deliberate arson.
S-Bahn traffic has also suffered delays and cancellations as a result of the incident. Lines S45, S46, S47, S8, S85 and S9 have all been temporarily interrupted. Electrical systems at Schöneweide were initially not functioning, but power has now been restored and trains are running again.
It remains unclear how long the power outage will last. However, a spokesperson for Stromnetz Berlin has already emphasised the magnitude of the incident, comparing it to the large-scale outage in Köpenick in 2019. During that incident, power failed for 31 hours and affected 30,000 households, making it the largest and longest power outage Berlin had experienced since the end of World War II.
