A man died this Saturday in Brussels after the upper part of his body was trapped in a metal curtain of a metro station, a tragedy that occurs in the context of an increase in complaints of homeless people on the network, according to the executive.
The death was verified early in the morning around 4:30 a.m. in the center of the city, at the Rogier metro station, by the firefighters who intervened on the scene.
They had to get the victim out but were unable to resuscitate him, a fire department spokesman explained. The identity was not immediately known.
The fourth such incident since March
“This is the fourth such incident since March and this time unfortunately with fatal consequences,” spokesman Walter Derieuw added.
The Brussels media had broadcast in recent weeks several cases of accidents at the time of the opening of the automatic curtains. Until now they were only “stuck legs”, according to Walter Derieuw.
A police investigation was opened to determine the circumstances of the fatal accident and whether or not the victim was “a homeless person or a person under the influence” (of drugs or alcohol), the fire department spokesman said.
An accident linked to “an attempted intrusion”, according to the manager
According to Stib, the company that operates public transport in Brussels, the accident is “clearly” related to “an attempted break-in” in the metro, at the usual time when the doors open automatically, that is, “04: 30 everywhere.”
“It’s not an infrastructure problem,” Stib spokeswoman Cindy Arents told AFP.
“We have seen an increase in reports of homeless people on the Internet for a year. We raised the alarm last fall. We need support at the level of the competent authorities and associations,” he said and continued. She assessed this increase in reporting at “60-70%.”
The progression of precariousness is “a social phenomenon”, argued Cindy Arents, “but it is necessarily felt in public transport”.
Source: BFM TV
