Hordes of passengers were left stranded during their early morning commute on the Paris underground. To add insult to injury, many became even more agitated when they discovered that the delay was due to a goat.
The drudgery of the early morning commute was broken up by an extremely unusual scene Tuesday morning along Paris’ infamous Line 1, which regularly suffers extended delays owing to the sheer volume of passengers.
However, initial announcements referred only to an “act of malevolence” perpetrated by one passenger at the Tuileries station – a rather ominous way to communicate that a farm animal had been illicitly smuggled on board a metro train.
Police were called to remove the disruptive passenger who had boarded the metro with his goat, in breach of the rail service’s rules.
“Stuck on the Metro because of a man with a goat!” tweeted Kenza Bennani. “He's refusing to get off.”
The Paris transport authority RATP confirmed to The Local that the goat was, in fact, stolen. In any case, it is illegal to bring a goat on the metro service, authorities said, though Instagram users have shared photos of themselves sharing a ride with other four-legged companions.
Apparently other animals may travel on the metro legally, though there are some size restrictions.
“This is why the traffic is blocked. A bloke is on the Metro with a goat. How crazy is that. Left earlier only to arrive later because of that,” Twitter user iBao said.
Crowds of passengers were left stranded at nearby metro stations Concorde and Chatelet while the situation was brought under control.
“Can you believe I'm late because some bloke brought a goat on the Metro. The world has gone mad,” tweeted one angry commuter.
The unnamed man with the goat was eventually arrested, and metro service returned to normal but not without providing passengers with an unforgettable, if frustrating, morning commute.
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