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Euston fire: London Underground station evacuated after ‘smoke seen on train’

‘[O]nce we saw the smoke emitting from underneath the carriage, staff told us to evacuate immediately,’ commuter says

Samuel Osborne
Monday 18 November 2019 12:05 GMT
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Euston fire: London Underground station evacuated after ‘smoke seen on train’

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Euston Station in London was evacuated during the morning rush hour over a fire alert, with smoke said to be coming from a train.

One commuter tweeted to say the Northern Line train “smelt increasingly of smoke” and another said they “think there was a fire”.

A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said: “We were called at 9.09am. We’ve got crews down there investigating at this moment in time.”

Davor Stojnic, who was on board the train which apparently caused the evacuation, told The Independent: “I was on that train and could smell burning ever since I boarded it from Burnt Oak but it became increasingly stronger as we got to Camden Town.

“Once we stopped at Euston we were told to leave the train and stand well back but once we saw the smoke emitting from underneath the carriage, staff told us to evacuate immediately.”

Mr Stojnic added: “You can just about see the smoke under the light fittings.”

“[I]t was barely visible at first but you could see it start to build up on top of the platform. But the smell of burning was apparent from early on in the journey but kept getting progressively worse after each stop.”

One person tweeted: “Smoke coming from train on Northern Line platform at Euston. Station evacuated, avoid!”

Another said: “Had a wild Monday morning today. Northern Line train smelt increasingly of smoke, until we were told to get off it at Euston Station. Rolls of smoke rolling of it, told to get back and then evacuated the whole station as the firemen arrived.”

A spokesperson for the British Transport Police (BTP) said they responded alongside the London Fire Brigade.

“We called at 9.10 and are in the process of responding alongside the fire brigade,” they said. “It looks like part of a fire alert.”

Euston Station later reopened around 10am.

“We were called to Euston Station earlier this morning following reports of a fire alert on the Underground,” BTP said on Twitter.

“The station was briefly evacuated while London Fire Brigade checked it out, and it’s now reopened.”

There were severe delays between Camden Town and Kennington via Bank due to the fire alert, Transport for London said.

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