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MONTREAL - Montrealers making their way onto the m tro systemFriday morning can expect to see an increased police and transitauthority security presence on their station platforms after a trioof smoke bombs shut down the system on Thursday the first timethe subway network has been closed completely since the ice stormof 1998. Montreal deputy police chief Pierre Brochet told reporters at ahastily called news conference at city hall Thursday afternoon thatthe 133-officers of the department s m tro division would bereinforced, although he did not say by how much. Soci t detransport de Montr al chairperson Michel Labrecque said thetransit authority s security force also would be more visible, andSTM employees had been told to be on the lookout for any suspiciousbehaviour. The measures were announced after three homemade smoke bombs weredetonated within minutes of each other at around 8 a.m. Thursday,forcing a series of station shutdowns that eventually resulted inthe entire network s being stalled until about 10:30 a.m. The smoke bombs detonated in the tunnels adjoining the Prefontaine,de Castelnau, Lionel-Groulx and Fabre stations, apparently afterbeing hurled from the station platforms and into the adjoiningtunnels. STM protocols require five stations on either side of a strickensite to be shut down to facilitate evacuation. Thursday morning sevacuations affected 200,000-300,000 commuters, STM spokespersonOdile Tremblay said. One of those commuters was Debbie Hughes, who was on her way to herjob downtown when the fumes from a bomb reached her station. I was at the Pie IX metro (green line) had been waiting likeeveryone else when suddenly we could see coming through the tunnela wall of smoke she said in an email to The Gazette. Withinseconds, we could feel it s effects, people began coughing, eyestingled and burned. (The) evacuation went very well, security wason the platform within a minute or so, but the evacuation hadalready begun because of the obvious effects. Paradis said no toxic materials were found in the bomb. Police havereleased photos of four persons three of them women who theysuspect are responsible for Thursday s sabotage of the system. Commuters online and on Twitter did not hesitate to linkThursday s incident with the conflict between striking Quebecstudents and the Charest government over the issue of tuitionhikes. Martine Desjardins, president of Quebec Federation of UniversityStudents, said she hoped it wasn t a student who was responsiblefor the disruptions. I condemn these actions, she said. It s not a way to makeyour point. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, spokesperson of CLASSE, an umbrella group ofstudent associations, said he was tired of CLASSE being blamed forall acts of vandalism and disassociated his group from the troubleon the m tro. There is no proof this was linked to any student, he said. Our own convention was affected and was late because of whathappened on the m tro. Police are urging anyone with information on Thursday s incidentsto call them at (514) 393-1133. Twitter: @jamesmennie. I am an expert from goodhlx.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Breath Alcohol Tester Manufacturer , Novelty Wireless Mouse, Breath Alcohol Tester,and more.
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