Germany's transport minister has described the suspected vandalism of a major rail line in Hamburg on Friday as "a form of terrorism" and called for a harsh legal consequences.
"It is only a matter of luck that no one was harmed," Volker Wissing told dpa.
Police are investigating the incident, in which three cable shafts along the main train line between Hamburg and Berlin caught fire early on Friday morning. An anonymous post on a left-wing website purported to take responsibility for the "sabotage of capitalist infrastructure."
Wissing likened the suspected arson to protests by the climate activist group Last Generation, which has repeatedly blocked roads across Germany. Wissing accused the climate protest group of normalizing illegal protest actions against transport infrastructure.
"However, we must not allow ourselves to become numb in the face of grievous, dangerous actions in which people endanger themselves and others," said Wissing, a member of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP).
