The Piata Victoriei subway station in Bucharest was closed and evacuated on Tuesday morning, June 14, due to smoke. The subway traffic on Line 1, which connects the office district in northern Bucharest to the city center and the southern residential area, was suspended.

The smoke was caused by a malfunction at an insulator on the subway track, which burned inside the tunnel some 150 meters away from the subway station, producing a lot of smoke. The firefighters intervened and cleared the station while the subway operator Metrorex sent its employees to fix the faulty equipment, according to Metrorex.

None of the people who were in the station at that time were affected by the smoke, Metrorex representatives added.

However, the incident paralyzed the subway traffic for more than an hour and some restrictions remain in place until Metrorex fixes the problem. The Piata Victoriei subway station, which is located near the Romanian Government building and connects two of Bucharest’s most important subway lines, is one of the busiest in the capital. Tens of thousands of people transit this station every day.

Although the incident hasn’t caused any victims, it raises questions about safety at the Bucharest subway, after a similar event took place in Piata Romana subway station in April this year. A faulty electric panel caught fire and produced a lot of smoke at the subway.

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editor@romania-insider.com