Poland railway line explosion near Warsaw 'act of sabotage,' prime minister says
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A railway line linking Warsaw to southeastern Poland was damaged by a weekend explosion that the prime minister on Monday called an act of sabotage.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who visited the site, said that the line is “crucially important for delivering aid to Ukraine.”
“Unfortunately, the worst fears have been confirmed,” Tusk said in a statement. “An act of sabotage has occurred on the Warsaw-Lublin route (in the village of Mika). An explosion has destroyed the railway track.”
A train driver on the line between the capital, Warsaw and Lublin, reported track irregularities around 7:40 a.m. Sunday. Further inspection determined there was damage to a section of track near the village of Mika, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Warsaw, officials said.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the explosion and damage occurred late Saturday or early Sunday. Two passengers and several staff members were on the train, but no injuries were reported, officials said.
Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said Monday that the army plans to examine 120 kilometers (about 75 miles) of the Warsaw-Lublin-Hrubieszów line, which links the capital to Ukraine by rail and road.
A second train was damaged separately Sunday and the incident is under investigation, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said.
A train on the Świnoujście-Rzeszów route was forced to stop Sunday night about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Lublin after the overhead electrical cables that powered the train were damaged, Kierwiński said in a statement Monday. There were 475 passengers on board but no injuries were reported.
Polish authorities have detained dozens of people over suspected sabotage and espionage since Russia launched all-out war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Poland has accused Russia of being behind some of these acts.
Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk appealed against jumping to conclusions about the identity of the perpetrators “because Russia isn’t so powerful that every arson, every situation of this kind, is provoked by Russia." But Duszczyk also told Polsat television on Sunday that "this cannot be ruled out or ignored in any way.”
Tusk vowed that Poland will “catch the perpetrators, whoever they are.”
