MONTREAL—Police are investigating a so-called "drinking marathon" involving a group of young people on the metro.
The loosely organized event was dubbed "The Orange Line Derby," and participants bragged they were taking alcohol consumption to "Olympic sport" levels.
The drinking binge apparently took place on March 9, and this past Monday a Montreal-based blog posted pictures of participants drinking, vomiting, exposing themselves and walking on the tracks.
In some photos faces are blurred, while in others those taking part can be clearly identified. The website's administrators have since hidden their site.
The STM says the acts are illegal and they've submitted surveillance video to the police.
"Some people could have gotten killed by going on the tracks. With the electricity, it's extremely dangerous. We're obviously quite concerned about this situation," said Isabelle Tremblay of the STM.
The louts got on the Orange line at the Cote Vertu station and say they were drinking a beer on the platform at each stop. Every few stations they left the metro system to buy more, which may explain why they were not stopped during their binge.
The transit agency is using the incident as an opportunity to encourage transit users to report any dangerous activity they witness.
"If you see some reprehensible behaviour or a potentially dangerous situation, please tell an employee of theSTM. They'll know what to do," said Tremblay.
The STM says an underground drinking marathon is something they have never had to deal with before.
