Panic in Sweden as water supply ‘sabotaged’ in Baltic Sea attack | World | News
Swedish police are investigating the suspected sabotage of a water pump that could’ve led to serious consequences for those on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Police said technicians found someone had “opened an electrical cabinet, pulled out a cable and thereby cut off the power to the pump”.
The incident, which was discovered on Sunday evening after a fault alarm sounded, could have left the whole island without water, according to Swedish publication Aftonbladet, which cited anonymous sources. Gotland’s head of water and sewage Susanne Bjergegaard-Pettersson told the newspaper that the water pumps drew from a lake that supplies large parts of the island. The pump is now working again and the BBC reports there was no impact on drinking water.
Reuters reports nobody has been detained over the incident.
Gotland is Sweden’s biggest island and its main town, Visby, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It lies east of mainland Sweden and west of Latvia and Estonia.
The Baltic Sea region has seen a rise in alleged incidents of sabotage, many of which have been blamed on Russia.
Warships, maritime patrol aircraft and drones are all part of the operation.
The launch of the NATO mission came weeks after a UK-led alliance – the Joint Expeditionary Force – activated its own operation following reports of damaged cables.
Last month, Swedish authorities said they were investigating a damaged cable which runs between Germany and Finland, off the coast of Gotland.
A “preliminary investigation into sabotage was opened,” Swedish police said in a statement at the time, adding they had “no further information to share at this time.”
Following the incident, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson warned: “We take all information about possible damage to infrastructure in the Baltic Sea very seriously.”
