Dead-body rumour shuts metros

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by George Maddux

According to Claude Scherrer of Urgences Santé, metro suicides are roughly a once-a-week event which usually stop the trains for up to 45 minutes. About half of those who dive in front of the trains survive, mainly because they usually hop off the platform as the train slows down to enter the station.

But commuters hoping to ride the rubber rails along the blue line last Saturday were forced to wait a lot longer because a question posed by a morgue employee immobilized the metro line for over six hours. The incident started at 10:30 a.m. when a woman wandered down the tunnel between the Jean-Talon and Fabre stations. The speeding train killed her instantly, leaving an exceptionally difficult mess. Compounding the problem was a clean-up employee who asked, "What if she had tuberculosis?"

Although it's unknown what might have prompted the Magnus Poirier employee to suspect the corpse might have been riddled with TB, the Hazardous Materials squad was called in and a long and careful clean-up process finally ended around suppertime after 15 officials were soaked with disinfectants. The extensive delay was unnecessary, says Scherrer. "TB doesn't run around and grab people like this. It requires airborne contact; the person has to be breathing for it to be transmitted. It was the first time I've seen such chaos."