Merode and Montgomery metro stations evacuated due to a fire
A fire in a room containing technical equipment next to one of the platforms at the Merode metro station in Brussels led to the evacuation of the station and the Montgomery metro station a few hundred metres further down the line.
Services on Brussels metro lines 1 and 5 were suspended between Maalbeek and Tomberg (line 1) and Maalbeek and Delta (line 5). Fire fighters soon had the blaze under control. The Brussels Fire Service received a report that there was a lot of smoke at Maalbeek metro station at around 11:20 on Friday morning. A small fire had broken out in a room containing technical equipment next to one of the platforms.
The metro station was evacuated and services suspended on line 1 between Maalbeek and Tomberg and Line 5 between Maalbeek and Delta.
A replacement bus service was been put in place. Metro services through Merode were restored just after 3pm.
As a precautionary measure, the Montogomery metro station was evacuated at around 12:10 on Friday afternoon as smoke from the fire at Merode had reached it through the metro tunnel.