Montreal metro users saw their journey disrupted Thursday afternoon due to an “irritating gas”, which forced the “triggering of the emergency ventilation protocol”, according to the Société de transport de Montréal.
The presence of gas was detected at 6:10 p.m., says Katherine Roux Groleau, director of corporate communications and public affairs at the Société de transport de Montréal (STM). The emergency ventilation protocol was then triggered.
A person would have used this irritating gas, possibly pepper spray, at the Berri-UQAM station, indicates Rafaël Bergeron, public relations agent for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). An operation was then deployed to prevent the gas from being diffused through the metro’s ventilation system, he said.
There was a service interruption on a large part of the Montreal metro network, on the orange line between Beaubien and Lionel-Groulx stations, on the green line between Viau and Lionel-Groulx, as well as on the yellow line between Berri-UQAM and Longueuil.
“Some stations have been evacuated”, also adds Mme Roux Groleau by email.
The event, however, was short-lived. The metro was able to resume at 6:34 p.m., 24 minutes after the start of the protocol.
The SPVM does not report any injuries in connection with this situation. “Perhaps there were minor inconveniences, but nothing major was reported,” said Agent Bergeron. “According to the information I have, he was not injured,” adds Mme Roux Groleau.