Passengers on a London tube train broke windows to escape after smelling smoke and getting no assistance from station staff.
Video captured the panicked passengers trying to pry the train's doors open while others kicked windows or used objects to smash them to climb onto the platform at Clapham Common station on Friday. Workmen on the platform used tools to break windows.
The station's message boards read, "Emergency. Please leave the station immediately."
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"Stuck on the train at Clapham Common and carriages filling with smoke, doors won’t open if it wasn’t for workmen on the platform we wouldn’t have got out! @TfL you should be ashamed! The response from station staff was horrific!" Jake Sharp (@jakesharp0108) tweeted with the video of passengers escaping.
Sharp told NBC News that the train began pulling into the tunnel before coming to a stop. Another train on the opposite side of the platform then pulled in and the passengers who exited quickly fled the station.
"The whole time, the carriages were filling with smoke and the doors did not or would not open, and when we tried to open them, they only opened maybe 10 centimeters," Sharp said. "Thanks to the workman on the platform on their way home, they had hammers and other tools to smash all the windows for everyone to get out. No response from station staff at all, even with everyone’s scream for help."
U.S. & World
Transport for London reported that the Northern Line had "no service between Morden and Clapham Common while we respond to a fire alert at Morden."
A British Transport Police spokesman told the London Evening Standard, “BTP received a report of a faulty train at Clapham Common station shortly before 6 p.m. this evening, and we are aware of a video showing passengers trying to leave the train.
“The issue is believed to have been caused by brake dust which can often be confused with burning. There were no reports of any injuries and the incident has now been resolved.”
A spokesperson for TfL later issued an apology, saying "We’re sorry for the distress caused at Clapham Common. The London Fire Brigade attended the station and confirmed there was no fire. We are investigating the details of this incident.”
