After hours of disrupted traffic on metro lines 2 and 6 on Thursday morning, traffic is running again. All traffic on both lines was halted after a body was found in the tunnel between the Porte de Namur and Louise stations. A separate technical incident at Botanique caused further disruption.
Metro traffic was disrupted early on Thursday morning in Brussels. All vehicles on lines 2 (between Elisabeth and Simonis) and 6 (between Elisabeth and Roi Baudouin) were at a standstill from just after 06:00. The Federal Police confirmed that traffic had stopped due to a body being found in the tunnel between the metro stations Porte de Namur and Louise (on lines 2 and 6).
"A body was discovered in the tunnel this morning," a spokesperson told The Brussels Times. "We believe a person was hit, but further investigation is needed to prove this."
After hours of traffic on both lines being at a standstill, Brussels public transport operator STIB confirmed at around 12:15 that traffic was partially resumed between the Elisabeth and Rogier stops. At 14:00, a spokesperson announced that Brussels metro lines 2 and 6 were running again.
What do we know so far?
The entrances to the Porte de Namur metro station were closed off with tape on Thursday morning, and several police cars were at the scene. Emergency services arrived to investigate the circumstances of the death, which is why traffic on the lines was disrupted for so long.
On the STIB app, the company wrote that the police requested traffic to be stopped between Elisabeth and Porte de Hal.
Brussels metro lines 1 and 5 were not interrupted, and passengers are still advised to use these lines or travel by alternative means of transport, such as buses or trams, where traffic on lines 2 and 6 is not yet fully restored.
A spokesperson for STIB later confirmed to The Brussels Times there was also a technical incident concerning a metro vehicle at the Botanique station, which caused further disruption.
This article was updated at 14:15 with more information.
