Investigators are looking into suspicions of unauthorized entry and possible tampering with the water supply at a major air force barracks in western Germany, authorities said Wednesday.
Defense Ministry spokesperson Arne Collatz said there were suspicions of attempted or actual illegal entry, as well as sabotage, at the Wahn barracks outside Cologne.
A hole was found overnight in the fence of the facility in an area near its waterworks, and officials couldn’t rule out contamination, military spokesperson Ulrich Fonrobert said. The barracks was sealed off for several hours in case a perpetrator or perpetrators were on the grounds, but none was found and the gates were reopened Wednesday lunchtime.
Speaking outside the barracks, Fonrobert said the alarm had been triggered by a report of “abnormal water values,” on which he didn’t elaborate. An evaluation of the facility’s drinking water was still ongoing.
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Officials weren’t aware of anyone having been sickened by any possible contamination. Fonrobert said that one person reported sick with a stomach bug, but that happened early Tuesday evening and was unlinked to the water supply.
“We have our reasons for taking this action, and we take the case seriously,” a spokesperson for the Territorial Command in Berlin said, according to Reuters.
Der Spiegel magazine reported that police and the German military’s counter-intelligence service were investigating the apparent break-in.
The Cologne-Wahn base, located near Cologne-Bonn airport, houses several military and civilian facilities of the German armed forces as well as aircraft used by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his ministers for government travel.
Some 4,300 soldiers and 1,200 civilians work at the site, according to Spiegel.
The base is also an important hub for military support for Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers regularly fly home from there, via Poland, after receiving training in Germany, Spiegel added.
AFP contributed to this report.