MECHELENA train conductor of the NMBS has refused a group of about 200 young people at the Mechelen-Nekkerspoel station on the train to Brussels because she felt threatened. She will also file a complaint with the railway police. According to the NMBS, this is “a case of aggression”.
The young people had visited sports and recreation domain De Nekker in Mechelen and wanted to go home by train, spokesperson for the Mechelen-Willebroek police zone Dirk Van de Sande told VRT NWS. The train conductor of the device, which arrived at Nekkerspoel station and was to continue to Brussels, felt threatened by the large group of young people. She did not allow the gang on the train and closed the doors again, according to Van de Sande. He adds that the woman will file a complaint with the railway police in Brussels.
“It was not a physical threat, but a threat she sensed,” the spokesperson told VRT NWS. “Nothing can be said about the complaint, an investigation will have to show what exactly happened.” The NMBS speaks of “aggressive travelers”. They were able to return home without any problems with the next train, accompanied by officers from the Mechelen-Willebroek corps who had arrived on the spot.
Earlier there were already some disturbances and fights on the De Nekker domain. As of today, stricter measures will therefore apply. For example, there is now mandatory online ticket sales with identification, a restriction on the number of visitors to 3,000, and a restriction on large groups. Antwerp deputy Mireille Colson (N-VA) and Mechelen mayor Alexander Vandersmissen (Open Vld) already called on Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) to quickly work on a central database to ban amok makers from all recreational domains.
Remarkable. The words of the Antwerp deputy and the mayor were not cold on Wednesday afternoon, when the police had to intervene again in the sports and recreation park De Nekker in Mechelen. After the incidents of last weekend, in which the management of the provincial domain already decided to only work with online registrations, the police returned to the scene on Wednesday afternoon. “This time some ‘climbers’ had been reported. Visitors who wanted to enter the recreational area without a ticket or registration by climbing over the fences,” said police spokesman Dirk Van de Sande. “Some of them were identified and addressed.”
The police also say that it will patrol the immediate vicinity of De Nekker as well as at both stations in Mechelen more often.
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