Alleged illegal entry into local treatment plant
A new warning about possible deliberate contamination of drinking water at a barracks was issued today, near the site of a similar incident two days ago, local authorities said authorities in Germany.
The municipality of Mechernich, near Cologne, in the western part of the country, spoke of illegal entry into the local drinking water treatment and distribution plant, specifying that it supplied, among other things, a Bundeswehr base.
“Due to the intervention in the drinking water distribution facility of the city of Mehernich, there is a possibility that the drinking water has been contaminated in a way that is dangerous for health,” as announced by the municipality and the health service of Mehernich.
The city urged residents not to drink tap water, or use it for washing, “due to the events that occurred at the Bundeswehr base in Cologne.” He said the security fence around the water treatment system had been breached.
Thomas Hambach, a local official, said the incident was detected by an army patrol as controls were stepped up following recent suspicions of sabotage in the Cologne. The drinking water facility has an alarm system that did not work, he added.
The day before Wednesday, fears of sabotage prompted security alerts at two military bases in the country, one of the Air Force in Cologne, which is involved in providing military aid to Ukraine, and the other to NATO.
In Cologne, authorities also discovered a hole in the fence around a drinking water plant that supplied the barracks, which they blocked. Tests carried out have so far not confirmed contamination.
Several German politicians have pointed to Russia's possible responsibility in the two cases on Wednesday, saying they are part of a hybrid war linked to Berlin's support for Kiev.
