Firefighters extinguish small fire on London Underground train; no reports of injury

The authorities say that it had been caused by an electrical fault under the train.

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Smoke is seen in a carriage on a Bakerloo Line train at Oxford Circus tube station in London. Reuters

British firefighters have extinguished a small fire on an underground train at Oxford Circus station in the centre of London's main shopping district on Friday. They said that it had been caused by an electrical fault under the train.

"Firefighters dealt with a small fire on a train on the Bakerloo line at Oxford Circus," London Fire Brigade said in a statement. "Four people were treated for smoke inhalation with two taken to hospital as a precaution."

The city transport authorities said that the station reopened following a brief closure.

"The cause of the smoke was an electrical fault under one of the carriages, which resulted in a small fire that was quickly extinguished," Nigel Holness, London Underground's director of network operations, told Reuters.

"Understandably this was a distressing incident for our customers, for which I give my sincere apologies."

On Twitter, London Fire Brigade posted a picture that showed smoke billowing out of the doors of the train. While, another photo that was shared by a commuter showed passengers covering their mouths with jumpers and clothing in the train carriage.

The police said that they had been called to the station after reports of a fire alert. However, they added that they were not treating the incident as suspicious.

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