Police storm Paris-bound train on suspicious person report; weeks after terror attack attempt
A Thalys train was evacuated on Rotterdam Central Station on Friday morning due to a suspicious person that locked himself in the toilet and refuses to come out. The surrounding platforms were also cleared.
A police spokesperson confirmed to NU that the man jumped onto the train just before departure and has been locked in the toilet ever since. "We therefore evacuated the Thalys and seven platforms as a precaution", said the spokesperson.
A police negotiator is at the scene to try and get the person off the train. A SWAT has boarded the train to try and make contact with the man. According to the Rotterdam police, so far there is no indication that the man is armed.
On Twitter, Thalys confirms that a passenger has locked himself in the bathroom and that the train has been evacuated. According to the tweet, the security services have everything under control and the passengers are not in any danger. The train was on its way from Amsterdam to Paris.Korpsonderhandelaar en arrestatieteam zijn nu in de trein. Proberen contact te leggen met de man #cs #rotterdam #thalys
— Politie Rotterdam eo (@Politie_Rdam) September 18, 2015
Four weeks ago a heavily armed man tried to attack a Thalys train on the same route. Ayoub el Khazzani boarded the train in Brussels armed with a Kalashnikov, a hand gun, ammunition and a box cutter. His plans were foiled when he was overpowered by other passengers. The train evacuation has also disrupted train traffic around Rotterdam. NS reports that trains have been stopped between Rotterdam Blaak and Schiedam Centrum. https://twitter.com/tweetwytze/status/644765045038161920 https://twitter.com/tweetwytze/status/644767141892374528Evacuatie Thalys in Rotterdam.Passagier sloot zich op in WC.Veiligheidsdiensten hebben alles onder controle.Geen risico voor onze passagiers
— Thalys (@thalys_nl) September 18, 2015