VIDEO: Fire-fighters free pupils from blocked Brussels metro lift
The Brussels fire brigade had to free a dozen pupils from a blocked lift at the Vandervelde metro station in Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe earlier. To do so, the fire brigade deployed its RISC (Rescue In Safe Conditions) Team.
It was on Tuesday afternoon that the Brussels fire brigade was called to the Vandervelde metro station in the leafy suburb of Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe. A dozen pupils were trapped in a blocked lift.
"It involved about ten pupils with hearing and speech disabilities," said fire brigade spokesman Walter Derieuw. "The lift company's technician failed to repair the lift quickly, which is why the fire brigade was called. The lift doors opened into the lift shaft, so we deployed our RISC team, which specialises in mountaineering rescue techniques."
One of the team members was lowered down to open the lift doors, put the children, one by one, into a harness to hoist them up onto the roof of the lift. From there, they proceeded to the ground floor via a ladder.
"The children remained calm during their liberation and did not sustain a scratch," Derieuw continued. "They were clearly affected by their ordeal but behaved bravely and followed orders given in sign language. Why the lift stopped working is being investigated."
