Screenshots: Apple Daily
Around 600 passengers were evacuated from a Central-bound MTR train today after a battery exploded and emitted a white cloud of smoke.
The incident reportedly occurred just after 2:45pm between Cheung Sha Wan and Sham Shui Po. A witness, surnamed Tse, told Apple Daily that she heard a loud bang, and passengers in the carriage began running in different directions.
"Nobody knew what was going on, and everybody was shouting 'run away!' 'run away!'," Tse recounted, before adding that she "smelled firecrackers".
The train then pulled in to Sham Shui Po Station, and Tse said she saw a man with blood on his finger pushing a bicycle.
A police source told the SCMP that a box of batteries had been secured to the man's bicycle seat, which he had been resting his hand on when the battery exploded.
A passenger then pressed the emergency button and alerted the train captain, who called emergency services. A total of 11 fire engines and one ambulance was sent to the scene.
The injured passenger, surnamed Lam, was bandaged by paramedics at the scene and was not taken to the hospital.
A spokesperson for MTR Corp. said that all 600 or so passengers on the train were evacuated at Sham Shui Po as a safety precaution, delaying them by about three to four minutes.
The train in question was then driven to a siding track for inspection.
Officers from the Fire Services Department are investigating the cause of the explosion.
Speaking to HK01, Lam said he had found 18 batteries and some speakers in Kwai Hing this morning, and had intended on selling them.
Lam has since been issued a HKD2,000 fine from MTR Corp. for not removing one of his bike wheels when carrying the vehicle on board.
http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2016/05/03/battery-explodes-mtr-600-commuters-evacuated
