Montreal subway service interrupted after second pepper spray incident

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Two pepper spray incidents have caused disruptions to Montreal subway service in the past two days.

The latest incident occurred at the Ville-Maria metro station on Thursday shortly before 3:30 p.m., forcing the Société de transport de Montréal to interrupt service on the orange, green and blue lines.

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Montreal police said several calls were made to 911 about a conflict between two groups of students inside the station, during which a person sprayed a substance believed to be pepper spray, said police spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils.

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Villa-Maria Station, which is located at Monkland Ave. and Décarie Blvd. in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, was evacuated and police and firefighters were called.

Police said two people were hit by pepper spray inside the station, which is on the Orange Line. They were treated at the scene by Urgences-Santé, but not taken to hospital, Chèvrefils said.

So far there have been no arrests and the police could not locate the people involved in the conflict or the person who sprayed the substance, he said. Police have interviewed witnesses and will examine surveillance camera footage, he added.

Service was interrupted for 35 minutes on the Orange Line between the Côte-Vertu and Bonaventure stations, while service was interrupted for 18 minutes on the Green Line, between the Berri-UQÁM and Angrignon stations. The Blue Line was disrupted for 18 minutes between the Snowdon and Parc stations.

A second pepper spray incident occurred during a fight at the Berri-UQÁM station on Wednesday, shortly before 12:30 p.m. No one was taken to the hospital.

Montreal police arrested a 20-year-old man for public assault, Chèvrefils said. Two other men, ages 21 and 28, were also arrested and will be questioned, she said. All three have criminal records, Chèvrefils said.

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The three were traveling from Longueuil and started the fight inside a subway car, he added.

A 26-minute service interruption occurred on the Green Line between the Atwater and Viau stations, the Orange Line between the Lionel-Groulx and Beaubien stations, and the entire Yellow Line.

Both incidents caused the STM to activate its emergency ventilation protocol and require the evacuation of subway cars and certain stations to allow for emergency ventilation, the transit agency said.

“We obviously condemn these incidents, which greatly affect our customers,” said STM Amélie Régis.

“But we cannot skimp on customer safety. Therefore, in these types of situations we apply our emergency ventilation protocols, since the subway is a closed environment. Depending on the incident, we have to evacuate trains and stations so that the irritating substance does not bother customers too much.”

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