Two people were taken to hospital this weekend after a toxic substance, thought to be ammonia, was thrown into a metro carriage in Brussels.
An unknown person threw a bottle of toxic liquid into the metro carriage on metro line 6 at around 19:00 on Saturday upon disembarking the vehicle at the metro station Delacroix in Anderlecht.
"We were not hit by the liquid, but other people were," a woman who was present during the attack told VRT News. "The perpetrator was a man, presumably there were two of them. Just before disembarking, one of them threw a bottle of liquid into our carriage. At first, we thought it was a bottle of soft drink."
Soon, several passengers developed eye and respiratory problems. "Two minutes later, we started smelling the smell of urine, then the smell became intense. We could no longer breathe and see properly, and our eyes started burning. Everyone held their breath and eyes closed. Then we knew it was ammonia and we had to get out as soon as possible."
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All passengers got off at the West Station stop and the emergency services were notified. The Brussels Fire Brigade arrived at the scene and transferred two people to a nearby hospital as a precaution, but no one was seriously injured.
The toxic substance is thought to have been ammonia – a liquid also often used in the drug environment to produce crack. Further investigation will provide clarity on the substance.
Public transport operator STIB confirmed this incident and noted that the metro line was interrupted for about 15 minutes as a result.
