Rail link between Düsseldorf and Cologne closed after fire – police investigate sabotage
A railway line in western Germany has been closed since Friday following a fire. A left-wing radical group claimed responsibility for the act.
Rail link between Düsseldorf and Cologne closed after fire – police investigate sabotage
The railway line between Düsseldorf and Cologne in western Germany has been closed since Friday, 10 July 2026, following a fire. The authorities are investigating the incident as possible sabotage. The left-wing radical organisation "Kommando Angry Birds" claimed responsibility for it, according to news agency DPA on Saturday. The source for this information is České noviny.
The fire broke out near Leverkusen. Media initially reported a fire on the railway embankment. According to new findings, however, the flames destroyed cables that were laid in a shaft next to the tracks. The group in question subsequently published a letter in which it assumed responsibility for the act. In it, they stated that they had placed incendiary devices at cable distribution points. They justified the act with the alleged aim of stopping "mass death caused by technological escalation".
Security authorities assessed the letter as genuine according to DPA, and considered it unlikely that technical failure was the cause of the fire.
Deutsche Bahn (DB) stated that the damage was considerable. When train services on the line could resume was currently unclear.
The group "Kommando Angry Birds" had previously claimed responsibility for arson attacks. In July 2025, arsonists claiming affiliation with the group blocked an important line between Düsseldorf and Duisburg for several days. In January 2026, it claimed responsibility for a failed attack on a transformer station in Erkrath near Düsseldorf. The group is also attributed with further fires in the region around Düsseldorf, including at telecommunications towers and at a tunnel on the A46 motorway.
Source: České noviny