Police probe suspected sabotage attempts at German power substations overnight

Firefighters extinguished a blaze that spread to a nearby power substation in central Berlin early Monday, as police separately investigated a possible break-in at another substation in western Germany, according to local media.

The fire broke out overnight at a construction site on Bissingzeile in Berlin's Tiergarten area and spread to a nearby substation, a fire department spokesman told public broadcaster RBB. About 50 firefighters fought the flames. Police sealed off a wide area, and the criminal investigation department is examining whether the fire was a crime or caused by a technical fault.

Hours earlier, on Sunday evening at around 10 pm local time (2000GMT), police mounted a major operation at the Niederrhein substation in Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, operated by energy company RWE, the daily Bild reported.

Officers found a hole cut in the security fence, indicating unknown people had entered the grounds. A police helicopter circled the sprawling site as officers searched the complex. Police did not immediately say whether technical infrastructure had been damaged or tampered with.

The two incidents come as authorities hunt a 48-year-old man from North Rhine-Westphalia suspected of a series of attempted sabotage attacks on Germany's power network since last week. Investigators published a wanted notice with photos on Saturday and asked the public for tips.

A large search at the Hambach Forest west of Cologne was called off Sunday without finding the suspect, public broadcaster WDR reported.

Letters signed with the man's name and sent to several newsrooms last week claimed responsibility for attempted attacks on power infrastructure near the Jaenschwalde and Schwarze Pumpe brown coal plants in Brandenburg, as well as at sites including Gohr, Bergheim-Rheidt, Dormagen and Weisweiler in North Rhine-Westphalia, ARD reported. The sender linked the acts to opposition to fossil-fuel power generation.