Berlin mayor Kai Wegner plays tennis during city blackout

(MENAFN) Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner comes under fire after reports reveal he was playing tennis while tens of thousands of residents were left without electricity following a January 3 arson attack.

According to accounts, Wegner spent an hour on the court between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on the day the outage began. He later confirmed the report, explaining that he played to clear his mind, kept his phone on, and returned to work immediately afterward.

At a press briefing the next day, Wegner had claimed he remained at home and in his office throughout January 3, coordinating the emergency response by phone. The revelation that he was instead playing tennis has intensified public frustration.

Opposition parties accuse him of misleading citizens and failing to demonstrate leadership during the crisis. Statements from the state government have so far done little to ease criticism.

The outage affected roughly 100,000 people, leaving them without power or heating for several days in the middle of winter—one of the longest disruptions since the post World War II era. By the fifth day, Stromnetz Berlin announced that service had been fully restored.

During the blackout, an 83 year old woman was discovered dead in her home. Police say it remains unclear whether her death was linked to the outage, noting that an autopsy has been ordered.

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