New scare in the infrastructures of Barcelona: a fire in the metro catenary has forced the evacuation of the L1 Glòries station and the closure of Clot station, leaving 137 affected, 131 mild and six in less serious condition due to smoke inhalation and mostly anxiety cases. Of these, 39 had to be transferred to nearby hospitals or clinics, according to the closing information provided by the Medical Emergency Service (SEM) this Monday night.
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Specifically, six people were taken to the Sant Pau Hospital; five to the Sagrat Cor Hospital; four to the Hospital del Mar and another 24 were transferred to the Primary Care Emergency Centers of Sant Martí, Dos de Maig, Cotxeres and Pere Camps. The SEM activated a total of 24 ambulances.
Shortly before 18:00 hours, circulation was stopped between both stations due to an incident that caused intense smoke and left a train stopped in the tunnel between the two stations. It was then that the passengers of the stopped train chose to force and open the doors to exit through the tunnel in both directions.
The affected people were able to exit to the outside (both from Glòries and Clot) and received attention from the emergency services deployed. The Mossos d’Esquadra, the Guàrdia Urbana and the city Firefighters also arrived at the scene, who declared the fire extinguished a few minutes after 19:30 hours.
The first alert was at 17:39 hours, when a train heading from Clot station to Glòries stopped due to the presence of fire on the track and alerted the control center.
In a statement to the media convened at the site, the CEO of Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), Xavier Flores, explained that a lining in the L1 Metro tunnel of Barcelona would have caused the fire in the catenary by falling.
This fire, visible from the street, forced the suspension of L1 circulation between Universitat and La Sagrera stations and also affected bus lines H12, V25 and 192, which modify their route on Independència street with Meridiana avenue due to the device attending to those affected in the public road.
Less than a week ago, last Wednesday night, a gas leak explosion in the metro works at Plaça de Sants station caused eight injuries of varying severity, two of them serious. The Firefighters worked with several units deployed in the area, very close to the central station of the Catalan capital, where a large flame was active for hours.
