German police believe an arson attack that has left thousands of people without electricity in south-eastern Berlin was politically motivated.
Initial investigations suggest that the ongoing power cut was due to arson, with two high-voltage pylons in the city’s Johannisthal neighbourhood having caught fire.
A police spokesman said on Tuesday morning.
The flames have since been extinguished and criminal police are at the scene to investigate the cause of the fire.
The choice of target as well as the manner of operation suggests that the attack was carried out by extremists, police said in a later update.
The political affiliation of the perpetrators was initially unclear.
Some 43,000 households and some 3,000 businesses in the districts of Altglienicke, Grünau, Adlershof, Spindlersfeld, Alt-Johannisthal and Oberschöneweide have been without power since the early hours of Tuesday.
A spokesman for the fire brigade said that it might take some time to restore the supply.
Firefighters were deployed to two nursing homes, with a number of patients being transferred to nearby hospitals.
The cut has also disrupted tram services in the area as well as traffic lights, according to police.
Emergency forces were alerted about the fire at 3 am (0100 GMT) and it took firefighters about an hour to extinguish the blaze.
Thick cables on two tall electricity pylons on Berlin’s Königsheideweg street were damaged and partially destroyed by the fire.
According to initial findings, the perpetrators used an accelerant.
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