Explosion on Polish rail track 'an unprecedented act of sabotage'

Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has described an explosion along a section of railway line used for deliveries to Ukraine as an “unprecedented act of sabotage” that could have led to disaster.

- Shaun Walker Warsaw Jakub Krupa

It came as a statement from public prosecutors last night said an investigation had opened “regarding acts of sabotage of a terrorist nature [...] committed on behalf of a foreign intelligence service against the Republic of Poland.”

There were no casualties from the incident on the line from Warsaw to Lublin, but the consequences could have been catastrophic had the damage caused a speeding train to derail.

“Unfortunately, there is no doubt that we are dealing with an act of sabotage. Fortunately, there was no tragedy, but the matter is nonetheless very serious,” Tusk said yesterday, after visiting the scene 60 miles from Warsaw, near the village of Mika.