Lydie from Antwerp has been stuck on a Thalys train in France for more than four hours: “It is 45 degrees here and no doors are allowed to open. It’s beastly” | Heat

Leers traveled to Paris for a day today to make purchases for fashion store Verso in Antwerp. “I’ve already done that. In the morning you take the train in Antwerp and in the evening you are back. Easy,” she says. This time, however, it was completely different. The Thalys had a breakdown this evening just after leaving Paris.

“Usually we should have left at half past five this evening, but were delayed by an hour,” she tells the story. “When the train did start moving at half past six, it only took a few minutes. He fell silent just outside the station. To make matters worse, the air conditioning also went out. We have all started to sweat a lot and are soaked. It’s 45 degrees here.”

Bottles of water were eventually handed out from the bar of the train. “That was it. We didn’t get any information. As a result, a small revolt arose. The anger at the inhumane treatment we had to undergo took the upper hand. Passengers have started smashing windows and calling for help to people standing on the platform in Saint-Denis, where we had just been hit.”

Footage has been posted on social media showing bystanders throwing water in through a smashed train window.

Several people became unwell from the heat. “They had to call a doctor for two people. But the doors were not allowed to open,” says Leers. “We were just told to be patient. And that the conductor tried to restart the train. They just got the air conditioning back on, but the train can’t run. There is not enough energy for that,” it sounds at 9.45 pm. “This is beastly. pre-war. I have never experienced this.”

Meanwhile, the passengers were told that emergency services had been called. “They will have all 750 passengers alight with ladders at two exits at the front and at the back of the train,” she says. The evacuation has now started. What should happen next is still unclear.

“We were not told that,” says Leers. “We are here just outside Paris. The 750 passengers must all be accommodated here and I have already heard that all hotels are full. I have no idea what’s going to happen now. My party and I have to work in the morning. That will be difficult.”