Hundreds of passengers were evacuated from two Eurostar trains Friday in Belgium after breakdowns left them without air conditioning in the midst of a sweltering heatwave, the country’s rail agency said.
A train from Cologne to Paris carrying about 400 people ground to a halt near the city of Leuven in the morning due to a technical issue of yet unconfirmed nature, Belgium’s Infrabel told AFP.
“The passengers were evacuated safely” and provided with bottles of water, before being transferred onto a replacement service, a Eurostar spokesperson said.
Local authorities and the Red Cross aided the operations, the company said.
