Oxford Circus Tube Station Evacuated After Reports Of 'Fire On Train' On Bakerloo Line

Passengers have described the 'terrifying' moment they fled the station.
Commuters on a smoke-filled carriage
Commuters on a smoke-filled carriage
Joe Bunting

Four people have been treated for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out on an underground train in central London.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from Oxford Circus tube station this morning after a “small fire” on a Bakerloo line train during rush hour.

Photos taken at the scene show commuters covering their faces as plumes of smoke fill a tube carriage. Others show smoke pouring from a stationary train onto the platform.

Two people of the four patients treated by paramedics have been taken to hospital as a precaution, the London Ambulance Service said.

Transport for London said that the fire began due to an electrical fault underneath one of the carriages.

Avoid Bakerloo Line/Oxford Circus, @bakerlooline train appears to be on fire pic.twitter.com/2Dvcd0XX71

— Tom Singer (@tomsinger) August 11, 2017

Oxford street station pic.twitter.com/Q8fmRaOCHJ

— maksud (@maksudLFC) August 11, 2017

The London Fire Brigade, which was called to the emergency around 8.45am, have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire.

Police said earlier this morning that the incident is not being treated as suspicious.

Fire-fighters entering the tube station this morning
Fire-fighters entering the tube station this morning
Megan Wetherill

Passengers have described the panic that descended after a tube carriage began filling with plumes of smoke.

“I got on the tube at Charing Cross and when I got on I could smell an acrid burning plastic smell,” one commuter told BuzzFeed News.

“We left Charing Cross into the tunnel and the wheels were screeching as if they were caught against something.

“All of a sudden smoke just started pouring into the carriage. It was panic. People were running down the carriage and getting down on the floor.

“But they couldn’t - it was just thick. I thought someone had set light to something.”

Oxford Circus tube station evacuated due to 'emergency' pic.twitter.com/4HSrRazxAl

— Tom Richell (@tomrichell) August 11, 2017

Witnesses at the station also reported smelling “burnt plastic”.

One commuter tweeted: “Don’t go near Oxford Circus. I just got evacuated from the station. Fucking terrifying.”

Others applauded station staff for “quickly and safely” evacuating commuters.

There are still severe delays on the Bakerloo line between Queens Park and Harrow & Wealdstone, with minor delays on the rest of the line.

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