False alarm causes panic on Guangzhou subway

GUANGZHOU -- Six passengers suffered slight injuries after a false alarm caused panic on a subway train in Guangzhou Saturday, police said.

Police received reports of a large crowd of panic-stricken passengers flooding out of a train at Meihuayuan Station on Line 3 at 12:52 pm.

A preliminary investigation showed a passenger had fallen ill and fainted on the train. While a subway worker was reporting the situation to the train driver through his walkie-talkie, one passenger shouted, "he was slashed by someone with a knife", and another one, "there's a bomb on the train."

Panicking passengers tried to flee the train and six people suffered bruises when the crowd swarmed towards the doors. Doctors were called but confirmed that the injuries were not serious, neither those of the injured passengers nor the fainted passenger.

Police found nothing suspicious on the train.

Similar cases have occurred in other cities and in most cases, rumors were to blame.

On Thursday evening, a fight between passengers caused chaos and sent large crowds of passengers scurrying at Guomao Station, a busy transfer station in Beijing's Chaoyang District.

In the wake of the panic, experts have called for emergency response education in China.