Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- London Underground Ltd. services to Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, will be suspended until about 1 p.m. local time after a fatal stabbing in a nearby subway station.

Police requested the closure of the Piccadilly Line between Hounslow Central and the airport to allow them to gather evidence, Simon Lubin, a spokesman for the British Transport Police, said in a phone interview.

An 18-year-old man suffered stab wounds and later died after a fight between eight men shortly after 11:20 p.m. yesterday at Hounslow West station, Lubin said.

London Underground, known locally as the Tube, is laying on buses to take people from Hounslow Central to the airport, a spokesman for the service, who declined to be identified, said in a telephone interview. He advised people to find other ways of getting to the airport where possible.

The Piccadilly line, which links central London with the airport located to the west of the capital, carries more than 570,000 people a day. It's the only Tube line that runs to the airport.

To contact the reporter on this story: Claire Shoesmith in London at

Last Updated: August 13, 2004 04:46 EDT