The Brussels fire brigade had to carry out a special operation to free about ten pupils who had become stuck in a blocked lift at a Brussels metro station on Tuesday afternoon.
At around 17:15 on Tuesday, the region's fire brigade was called to the metro station Vandervelde, located on metro line 1 and in the municipality of Woluwé-Saint-Lambert.
"We intervened to free about ten students with hearing and speech disabilities who were blocked in a lift. The lift company's technician failed, within a reasonable time, to put the installation back into operation," fire brigade spokesperson Walter Derieuw said.
Given the challenging position of the lift doors, the brigade decided to deploy its Rescue In Safe Conditions (RISC) team, of which the members specialise in mountaineering rescue techniques.
The students were hoisted up one by one. Credit: Brussels Fire Brigade
"One of the team members was lowered down to open the lift doors, and hoisted out the children one by one using a harness. They were then lifted onto the roof of the lift," Derieuw explained.
From this point, they proceeded further to the ground floor via a ladder.
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"The intervention was carried out calmly and the children sustained no injuries whatsoever. The pupils were impressed by the resources deployed but behaved bravely and followed the consignments given (via signs)," Derieuw said.
The cause of the incident will be investigated.
