Arsonists attack French rail network hours before Olympic ceremony

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that attackers who struck early Friday hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics had "a clear objective" to block the country's high-speed train network.

Attal said the vandals strategically targeted the main routes from the north, east and west toward Paris. He said there will be "massive consequences," with "hundreds of thousands" of people stuck while trying to visit Paris for the Games or vacation.

Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete earlier described people fleeing from the scene of fires and the discovery of incendiary devices.

There were no known reports of injuries.

It was "a premeditated, calculated, co-ordinated attack" that indicates "a desire to seriously harm" the French people, French national rail company SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou said. "The places were especially chosen to have the most serious impact, since each fire cut off two lines," Farandou said.

The attack occurred against a backdrop of global tensions and heightened security measures as the city prepared for the 2024 Olympic Games. Many travellers were planning to converge on the capital for the opening ceremony, and many vacationers were also in transit.

While officials responded to the high-rail network incidents, flights were temporarily suspended and the airport at Basel-Mulhouse near the Swiss border was evacuated on Friday due to a bomb alert. An air traffic controller at the airport told Reuters it was the seventh alert since last October, and it led to the cancellation of an Air France flight to Paris.

By midday, the airport resumed normal operations.

As Paris authorities geared up for a spectacular parade on and along the Seine River amid tightened security, the rail fires