A station platform at Hamburg’s main station in northern Germany has been cordoned off amid fears that two passengers on the train may be infected with the dangerous Marburg virus.

Emergency crews in full protective gear boarded a train from Frankfurt after a 26-year-old medical student and his girlfriend developed flu-like symptoms. The train was evacuated of all passengers and police closed the station for several hours before reopening it.

Tabloid Bild reported that the medical student had arrived by plane directly from Rwanda, where he had come into contact with a patient who was later diagnosed with the Marburg virus.

According to the Hamburg Fire Department, cited by Politico, one of the two passengers experienced mild vomiting. “He then called the fire department because he suspected something was wrong,” a spokesman told Die Welt newspaper.

A team of police and firefighters went to the station and the man and his girlfriend were then taken to a special clinic. The station’s platform four was closed for some time before it was allowed to reopen.

What is Marburg virus

Rwanda, a country in East Africa, is currently experiencing an outbreak of the deadly virus. According to the country’s Ministry of Health, eight people have died from the virus since last Sunday, while 26 cases have been confirmed.

Marburg virus causes a fever with symptoms such as convulsions, bloody vomiting and diarrhea and has a fatality rate of up to 88%, according to the World Health Organization. Humans become infected through contact with the bodily fluids of infected victims.

The student and his girlfriend were taken to the Eppendorf University Hospital, which specializes in tropical diseases.