In unrelated incident, fire damages Renens train station and bikes
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Vandals have damaged the high-tech Hydroptère experimental “flying boat” moored in Morges, causing as yet uncalculated damages, says Vaud police.
And in a separate incident, which may have been an accident, a fire has damaged the roof of the east side of the Renens train station and a number of motorbikes and mopeds parked outside.
The fire occurred late Monday 21 May. A passerby alerted the fire department that the area where bikes are parked to the east of the station was on fire, at 23:15. The roof of the building was destroyed as far over as the underground pedestrian path.
Hydroptere in water for two weeks, was on “orange alert” for new Lake Geneva speed test
The experimental catamaran, being developed in collaboration with EPFL in Lausanne, suffered at least CHF10-20,000 in damages during the night of Sunday to Monday, and it appears that the attack may have been more than random vandalism. Some 80 screws were unscrewed, toppling the masts, and the inside, which houses highly confidential technology, was “visited”.
The incident occurred just four days before the group was to present its “Hydros” project publicly. The group says there is at least suspicion that the vandalism was designed to look like negligance.
