A fire in the catenary at Clot station forced a train to stop with over a hundred passengers trapped for 25 minutes. 137 people were treated for smoke inhalation, six of whom were taken to hospitals.
A fire that broke out in the catenary covering at Clot Metro station in Barcelona caused panic among passengers on a line 1 train that was travelling about 50 metres from the fire's source. The incident, which occurred last Friday afternoon, forced the train to stop and left around a hundred people trapped for approximately 25 minutes without information or immediate assistance.
According to several witnesses, smoke began to quickly fill the carriages. Passengers, without clear instructions from Metro staff, decided to force the doors open manually to exit the train and walk through the tunnels towards Glòries or Clot stations. Some of them had to be treated by the Sistema d'Emergències Mèdiques (SEM) for dizziness and vomiting caused by smoke inhalation.
Glòria Villalba, a 51-year-old affected passenger who boarded at Clot heading to Arc de Triomf, explained that the lack of information was distressing. “We didn’t know whether to open the doors or wait, because we weren’t informed if the fire was inside the tunnel or not,” she stated. After a few minutes lying on the floor covering themselves with clothing, the passengers opened a door and began to evacuate. Villalba asserted that there were no emergency services inside the tunnel and that the first mosso d'Esquadra was seen only outside Glòries station.
A total of 137 people were treated for smoke inhalation, 131 of them in mild condition and 6 in less serious condition. Six affected individuals were taken to Hospital de Sant Pau, five to Hospital Sagrat Cor, four to Hospital del Mar, and the rest to the CUAPs of Sant Martí, Dos de Maig, Cotxeres, and Pere Camps. None were in serious condition, and some only required oxygen masks. However, the psychological impact has been significant: Villalba stated she would avoid the metro at least for the summer.
Some taxi drivers in Barcelona also assisted in transporting the injured. Edu Cristóbal, a taxi driver, picked up a young foreign woman with tearful eyes who had been trapped in the tunnel for half an hour. He took her to the CAP, but they informed him that they did not have the necessary equipment and referred her to the hospital.
The incident has been resolved, and line 1 service is operating normally. However, the event has reopened the debate on emergency protocols and passenger information in the Barcelona subway. The Mossos d'Esquadra are investigating the causes of the fire, which originated in the catenary and spread rapidly through the tunnel lining.
For regular users of line 1, which connects the city centre with the north of the city and the metropolitan area, the recommendation is to stay alert to TMB's official channels and follow staff instructions in case of incidents. The experience endured by the passengers of the affected train serves as a reminder of the importance of staying calm and acting prudently in emergency situations.
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