Europe: Some of the passengers on their way from Paris to Brussels were struck in a high-speed Thalys train for about four hours in the extreme heat on Tuesday, without proper help or communication from the company.
The pictures circulating on social media the previous night show passengers in the Thalys train trying to cool down after their train stranded in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris. In every possible way, doors are forced open, windows are smashed, and individuals on the platform try to throw bottles of water into the train.
Earlier that evening, the Thalys had left the Paris Garu du Nord station with a one-hour delay because of a technical problem, but after only a few kilometres, the train ground to a stop again in Saint-Denis. To make matters worse, the air conditioning failed, and the temperature increased to about 45°C.
Moreover, Lydie Leers from Antwerp shared the information, “It was scorching hot on the train. We were soaking wet. Our clothes were sticking to our bodies.” She was on her way home with a colleague after spending a day in Paris shopping for her fashion store.
Leers mentioned in the statement, “Some passengers became unwell and had to be taken care of. Some people became aggressive and tried to get out. But we were told not to use the doors in order to use as little electricity as possible so that the air conditioning could come back on.”
At about 22:30, Thalys made the decision to evacuate the train. After all, she explained.
Furthermore, “After more than four hours, we were able to go outside via a ladder over the tracks. Then, a train took us back to Paris Gare du Nord. But no more trains were leaving from there in the meantime, so we had to stay overnight.”
