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Thousands evacuated, 15 injured after fire on New York subway tracks
Canadian Press Published: Thursday, August 17, 2006
NEW YORK -- Thousands of people on two New York subway trains were evacuated by firefighters and more than a dozen suffered minor injuries after a track fire broke out and smoke filled a platform at the height of the evening rush hour Wednesday.
The fire department said between 3,000 and 4,000 people on the B line in Brooklyn were evacuated from two trains that had come from the Manhattan Bridge, and 15, including three firefighters, suffered minor injuries including smoke-inhalation.
During the evacuation power on the elevated tracks was shut off so riders could walk safely from the trains to the subway platform, the fire department said.
Most of the injured were taken to a hospital for treatment after smoke was reported around 6 p.m. EDT at the DeKalb Avenue stop on the B line, which runs between Brooklyn and the Bronx and passes through Manhattan.
New York City Transit, which runs the subway system, said it believed there was a fire just beyond the platform on a piece of wood that supports the rails. It didn't cite a cause.
Service was affected on parts of the B, D, F, V and Q lines.
Train traffic on the Manhattan Bridge was restored by about 9:30 p.m., with some delays, New York City Transit said. Service during the Thursday morning rush hour was not expected to be affected.
Several subway riders complained the trains had no air-conditioning and it took more than an hour before firefighters arrived to rescue them, pulling some of them out through windows.
Subway rider Danilo Ignacio said the heat in his subway car was almost unbearable and he had to calm an asthmatic woman who was having trouble breathing.
"It was almost like being in a sardine can but it's being cooked while you're on it," Ignacio said.
© The Canadian Press 2006
Hope everyone who suffered injury recovers quickly and well.
Thousands evacuated, 15 injured after fire on New York subway tracks
Canadian Press Published: Thursday, August 17, 2006
NEW YORK -- Thousands of people on two New York subway trains were evacuated by firefighters and more than a dozen suffered minor injuries after a track fire broke out and smoke filled a platform at the height of the evening rush hour Wednesday.
The fire department said between 3,000 and 4,000 people on the B line in Brooklyn were evacuated from two trains that had come from the Manhattan Bridge, and 15, including three firefighters, suffered minor injuries including smoke-inhalation.
During the evacuation power on the elevated tracks was shut off so riders could walk safely from the trains to the subway platform, the fire department said.
Most of the injured were taken to a hospital for treatment after smoke was reported around 6 p.m. EDT at the DeKalb Avenue stop on the B line, which runs between Brooklyn and the Bronx and passes through Manhattan.
New York City Transit, which runs the subway system, said it believed there was a fire just beyond the platform on a piece of wood that supports the rails. It didn't cite a cause.
Service was affected on parts of the B, D, F, V and Q lines.
Train traffic on the Manhattan Bridge was restored by about 9:30 p.m., with some delays, New York City Transit said. Service during the Thursday morning rush hour was not expected to be affected.
Several subway riders complained the trains had no air-conditioning and it took more than an hour before firefighters arrived to rescue them, pulling some of them out through windows.
Subway rider Danilo Ignacio said the heat in his subway car was almost unbearable and he had to calm an asthmatic woman who was having trouble breathing.
"It was almost like being in a sardine can but it's being cooked while you're on it," Ignacio said.
© The Canadian Press 2006
Hope everyone who suffered injury recovers quickly and well.
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