London tube passengers smash windows to escape smoke-filled carriages

Dramatic images have emerged of tube passengers desperately trying to escape a London Underground train. Photo / Twitter/@jakesharp0108

Passengers appear to have been forced to smash the windows of a London Underground train to escape as smoke filled the carriages.

In videos circulating on social media, workmen can be seen outside a train at Clapham Common Station smashing through the windows with hammers to help people get out of the tube.

Witnesses sharing videos on Twitter claimed that the doors would not open as smoke travelled through the carriages, with others criticising the response from station staff.

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! @SkyNews @BBCNews @itvnews pic.twitter.com/D0MHItF0R3

— Jake sharp (@jakesharp0108) May 5, 2023

Jake Sharp, who shared a picture of the chaos, wrote: “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!”

Nick Bonfield, who was travelling to a friend’s stag party, told The Telegraph the train began leaving Clapham Common Station before stopping abruptly.

He said passengers then began to get agitated when they were unable to open the doors and the lights in the carriages cut out.

He said: “It stank of smoke and there was a lot of panic, it was a chaotic scene.

“As you imagine a lot of people’s worst fear is being trapped in a locked tube, underground, when it is on fire.”

Another passenger told The Telegraph there didn’t appear to be anyone hurt and people were able to evacuate in an orderly fashion once the doors had been opened.

Others remained on the platform taking pictures of the smashed glass and smoke-damaged carriages.

People leaving the station reported seeing fire engines arriving at the scene.

A Transport for London spokesperson said: “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.”