Polish PM says rail line explosion was act of ’sabotage’

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A railway line connecting Warsaw to southeastern Poland was damaged by a weekend explosion that the prime minister called an “unprecedented act of sabotage.”

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Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who visited the site on Monday, said the line was “crucial for delivering aid to Ukraine.”

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“Unfortunately, our worst fears have been confirmed,” Tusk said in a statement on Monday. “There was sabotage on the Warsaw-Lublin highway (in the village of Mika). The explosion destroyed the railway track.”

A train driver on the line between the capital Warsaw and Lublin reported irregularities on the tracks at about 7:40 a.m. on Sunday. Further inspection revealed damage to a section of track near the village of Mika, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Warsaw, officials said.

It is unclear whether the explosion and damage occurred late Saturday or early Sunday morning. There were two passengers and several employees on the train, but no injuries were reported, officials said.

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Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Monday that the army plans to test 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) of the Warsaw-Lublin-Grubieszow line, which links the capital with Ukraine by rail and road.

A second train was damaged separately on Sunday and the incident is being investigated, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said.

A train on the Swinoujscie-Rzeszow route was forced to stop on Sunday evening about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Lublin after overhead cables powering the train were damaged, Kerwinski said in a statement on Monday. There were 475 passengers on board, and no injuries were reported.

Polish authorities have detained dozens of people on suspicion of sabotage and espionage since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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