Berlin pays nearly €900,000 for hotel stays after major blackout

Berlin authorities have reimbursed nearly €900,000 ($1.04 million) in hotel costs after a major power outage left tens of thousands of people without electricity and heating in January, according to figures from the local district administration seen by dpa.

Thousands of residents moved into hotels during the several-day outage amid subzero temperatures.

Officials said 3,116 applications had been reviewed, often covering several people, and 2,933 claims had been paid. Reimbursements averaged between €52 and €55 per person per night.

A further 129 applications were rejected, including cases in which stays fell outside the eligible period or were not in commercial accommodation.

The outage followed a suspected arson attack by left-wing extremists on a cable bridge on January 3. It was the longest power cut in Berlin's post-war history and affected around 100,000 people in 45,000 households, as well as more than 2,000 businesses.

Power was fully restored on January 7.