MRT Train Fills With Smoke Due To Refrigerant Gas Leak, Passengers Evacuate At City Hall

White Smoke Fills MRT On 7 Sep, Passengers Forced To Disembark At City Hall Station

Passengers on MRT trains have run into their fair share of weird situations, like a man brandishing a knife to scratch his foot. Sudden white smoke filling the carriages is a surprising new one, however.

Passengers on the train heading through the underground tunnel towards City Hall station encountered exactly that yesterday (7 Sep).

Once the train arrived at City Hall, SMRT staff evacuated passengers onboard as a safety precaution. Nobody was reported to require medical attention.

SMRT later found the cause to be a refrigerant gas leak and withdrew the train from service.

White smoke fills MRT train on 7 Sep

The incident took place on Thursday (7 Sep) night at about 9.50pm, noted The Straits Times (ST). The train in question was eastbound on the East-West Line (EWL), having left Raffles Place MRT station.

Midway there, passengers noticed a strange white smoke filling the carriages.

Instagram page sgfollowsall uploaded a video taken on board the affected train, showing white smoke densely filling the carriage and obscuring visibility further than a few metres.

With the train still in the tunnel, passengers had nowhere to escape and were forced to wait. In the footage, they covered their noses and mouths with their hands. Some waited by the doors to leave once the train pulled into the next station.

Although clearly concerned, the passengers remained calm while they prepared to disembark.

Train withdrawn from service

When the train stopped at City Hall MRT Station, the passengers quickly alighted to escape the white smoke.

Strangely, an uncle seemed determined not to let the strange gas disrupt his commute, remaining seated with his legs crossed in the train.

However, he too eventually got up and disembarked.

Further footage showed the smoke-filled empty train cast in an eerie yellow from the train lights. An SMRT staff member in red went around through the carriages, presumably evacuating any passengers who remained.

According to ST, SMRT Trains president Mr Lam Sheau Kai apologised for the incident. He added that staff evacuated passengers from the train as a safety precaution, and no passengers required medical attention.

Mr Lam was also quoted as saying that the cause of the white smoke was a refrigerant gas leak from the air-con system. The MRT train had been in service since 1987, and SMRT promptly retired the old-timer following the incident.

Meanwhile, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported that the affected train left after five minutes, with the next train arriving in about three to four minutes.

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Featured image adapted from TikTok.