A 17-year-old student employed by the cleaning company Iris is severely injured after a work accident on Saturday at the STIB depot in Haren, according to information from Sudinfo confirmed on Tuesday evening by the Brussels transport company.
The victim was asphyxiated for several minutes.
Sudinfo reported that it was his first day on the job. The young man was cleaning the driver's cab of a bus when he activated the automatic retraction of the protective window, which blocked his neck.
He remained like this for around 15 minutes before other people noticed what was happening and rescued him, a STIB trade unionist told the newspaper on condition of anonymity.
A paramedic and an ambulance were sent to the scene and resuscitated the victim, who was in cardiorespiratory arrest, before transferring him to hospital. Local police, who were also called out at 21:14 due to the seriousness of the accident at work, noted that the victim's "life was in danger."
"An investigation will be carried out with Iris to determine how this accident could have happened, but first of all we would like to express our moral support to the young man's family," said STIB spokesperson, An Van hamme.
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"This student was working for a STIB subcontractor, the cleaning company Iris. Given that social legislation states that an external service provider with whom you regularly work is considered a permanent third party, there is a risk that STIB will have to bear the consequences of this accident at work, which should never have happened," another STIB trade unionist added.
"A meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday with a delegation from the Comité pour la Prévention et la Protection au Travail (CPPT) to discuss the matter."
