Metro services were temporarily disrupted due to a fire that broke out at Mérode metro station on Friday morning. Traffic on lines 1 and 5 has now resumed.
The Brussels Fire Brigade was informed of the incident at around 11:20 on Friday morning. A small fire started in a technical room at Mérode, and the entire metro station was evacuated as a result.
Metro lines 1 and 5 were temporarily disrupted following the incident but services have since returned to normal. Earlier on, replacement buses ran between Maelbeek and Tomberg on line 1 and between Maelbeek and Delta on line 5.
Firefighters also decided to evacuate Montgomery station as a precaution because "heavy smoke" had reached the area via the metro tunnel, according to Etterbeek Mayor Vincent De Wolf.
"The situation is under control," Fire Brigade spokesperson Walter Derieuw confirmed, adding that the operation concluded at around 13:00.
À Mérode, où la station de métro est évacuée suite à un incident électrique ayant provoqué un gros dégagement de fumée nécessitant par ailleurs la fermeture du tunnel routier. Les pompiers évaluent à présent si la station Montgomery doit également être évacuée. pic.twitter.com/tiAwRYQQCf
— Vincent De Wolf (@VincentDeWolf) April 19, 2024
Translation: At Mérode, where the metro station was evacuated following an electrical incident that caused heavy smoke, necessitating the closure of the road tunnel. Firefighters are now assessing whether Montgomery station should also be evacuated.
This article was updated at 16:05 to include new information.
