A young man deliberately pushed a woman onto the metro tracks on Friday January 14, around 7:45 p.m. in the Rogier station in Brussels.
The perpetrator, a young French man born in 1998, pushed this woman – whom he did not know – in the back when a metro was approaching, reports the Belgian daily Le Soir. The suspect then ran away. People on the platform then alerted the metro driver, who carried out an emergency brake. Showing great reactivity, the latter did not hit the victim.
Attempted murder at Rogier station at 7:42 p.m. (Tiers pushed a passenger into the tracks, the train did an emergency brake to avoid the worst). PSS, PFM, Patrol, PMZ and rescue service on site. Tiers fled. pic.twitter.com/UBfEUXwOew
— nakupenda (@abr_rania) January 14, 2022
“The driver braked when he saw the person on the tracks and stopped in time,” confirmed An Van Hamme, spokesperson for the Belgian transport network STIB. “The driver reacted very well but he is still in shock and the person too,” she said.
The suspect arrested
In order to come to the aid of the victim, passengers who witnessed the scene descended on the rails to reassemble him on the platform, underlines Le Soir. Transported to the hospital, the woman was able to return to her home since.
Thanks to surveillance video cameras, the suspect was arrested by the police a few minutes after the fact, while he was in another metro station. An arrest warrant has been requested against him for attempted murder by the Brussels King’s prosecutor. “The investigation is ongoing to determine the exact circumstances of the facts as well as the motive of the suspect,” said Sarah Durant, the deputy Crown prosecutor, in a press release.
“a terrible act of cowardice”
Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brand reacted on Twitter, praising the driver’s responsiveness. “Yesterday a woman was the victim of a terrible act of cowardice, the opposite of the alert response of the driver who was able to avoid the worst scenario,” she wrote.
Yesterday, a woman was the victim of a terrible act of cowardice, the opposite of the alert response of the driver who was able to avoid the worst scenario.
Veel sterkte aan het slachtoffer, de bestuurder en de omstaanders. Thanks to the @STIBMIVB who watches over us every day.
— Elke Van den Brandt (@elkevdbrandt) January 15, 2022
For its part, the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (STIB) supported the victim and paid tribute, in turn to the driver. “He can count on our support”, tweeted the STIB before specifying to be “confident” so that the court imposes “an appropriate sanction on the author”.
Courage to the victim of the cowardly act yesterday in Rogier.
We would like to pay tribute to our driver who avoided a tragedy thanks to his quick reaction. He can count on our support.
We are confident that the court will impose an appropriate sanction on the perpetrator.#stib
— STIB-MIVB (@STIBMIVB) January 15, 2022