A sudden lithium battery fire erupted on a crowded Hong Kong subway train Monday evening, sending passengers scrambling amid a loud bang and acrid smoke, as flames from a man’s backpack injured two riders and forced an evacuation between bustling stations.
The incident unfolded at 6:53 p.m. on an MTR South Island Line train bound for South Horizons, wedged between Admiralty and Ocean Park stations during the evening rush. What started as a quiet commute turned chaotic when a backup battery for a handheld fan inside a 36-year-old man’s backpack began emitting smoke and burst into flames, authorities said.
The man, whose bag housed the errant 21700 cylindrical lithium battery, and a nearby 40-year-old woman suffered minor injuries from flying sparks. Paramedics treated both on the spot at the scene, but the pair declined transport to a hospital, opting to recover without further medical intervention.
Eyewitnesses described a scene of pandemonium inside the train car. “There was this ‘boom’ — like a small explosion — and everyone just scattered,” one passenger recounted, as flames licked upward and a sharp burning odor filled the air. Photos circulating online captured firefighters in action, with the charred battery remnants laid out on the carriage floor next to soggy paper towels and puddles of water from hasty extinguishing efforts.
MTR officials swiftly halted the train and evacuated all aboard, rerouting services and restoring normal operations within hours. The fire, while contained quickly, underscored growing concerns over the risks of portable electronics in transit systems worldwide, where lithium batteries have sparked similar scares from airplanes to urban rails.
No further details on the battery’s condition or the man’s identity were immediately released, but investigations are underway to determine if manufacturing defects or misuse played a role.
