Burnt insulation caused the suspension of service on many lines in the DC evacuation subway station

Washington: Insulators under a streetcar caught fire and filled a subway station with smoke on Thursday, forcing the station to be evacuated.

The Washington, D.C., Fire and Emergency Services agency posted on the X (formerly Twitter) social media platform that nine people had been evaluated for injuries following the incident at the East Market station, and one of them had been taken to the hospital. None of the injuries were reportedly life-threatening.

The incident resulted in partial suspension of service on three subway lines.

Video of the scene posted on social media showed thick smoke filling the upper part of the station entrance, with a subway employee running out and shouting “Clear the station!”

D.C. Fire and Emergency Services posted on X that the smoke was caused by “a fire in insulation under a train car at the station.” It was quickly extinguished.

Metro officials announced that service on the Blue, Orange and Silver Lines between the Federal Center and Stadium-Armory stations will be suspended.

Washington’s metro system, which stretches into intertwined communities in northern Virginia and northern Maryland, has faced a series of safety issues in recent years, including a series of seemingly similar station fires.

Most recently, Metro officials were forced to suspend operations of much of its rail car fleet in 2021 after derailments exposed long-term problems with axles. A subsequent NTSB investigation concluded that the agency had a “poor safety culture” under former director Paul Widfield, now Maryland’s transportation secretary.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from Yonhap News Agency-The Associated Press)