Stib investigating how metro carriages became detached

Brussels public transport operator Stib has said that it is investigating how a metro train’s carriages became detached in an incident last week near Elisabeth station.

Footage shared online showed a Stib metro train on line 2 losing two carriages as it departed for Ribaucourt.

No one was injured in the incident, and there was no material damage.

“Our personnel were on the scene quickly, so metro traffic was not interrupted for long,” said Stib spokesperson Laurent Vermeersch.

“But we do take the incident seriously. It rarely happens. We are currently investigating how the car could have come loose.”

The passengers and the driver of the carriage were stuck in the tunnel between the two stations, but were quickly rescued.

The traffic interruption lasted about 30 minutes.

“The train concerned is under observation at the depot and we are looking at all the technical details to understand how it could have happened because it was not supposed to happen at all, of course,” Vermeersch said.