Woman's power bank allegedly catches fire at Raffles Place MRT station, leaves her top charred, hand slightly injured

A commuter's bag started to emit smoke after a power bank left inside allegedly caught fire just as the train she was on pulled up at Raffles Place MRT station on Mar. 7 at around 5:25pm.

The incident caused passengers to temporarily evacuate the smoke-filled train cabins.

Thick smoke filled the train carriage

Chen, a woman in her 20s, told 8World that she was taking the East-West Line from Queenstown MRT station and was about to arrive at Raffles Place MRT station for a job interview when she noticed thick smoke filling the train carriage.

She initially thought that the smoke came from somewhere else, but soon realised the origin of the smoke was from her when passengers began running away in panic.

She then saw black smoke emitting from her shoulder bag.

Chen quickly took her bag off and threw it into the empty carriage as the train arrived at the station.

Around 10 station staff arrived to put out the fire, and an emergency announcement was broadcast to inform passengers to stay clear of the train.

Chen said she was "very scared" at the time and her immediate thoughts were that no one should get hurt because of her.

Aftermath of the incident

Photos posted on Xiaohongshu showed the aftermath of the incident.

The right side of Chen's top and left hand were smeared in black soot.

Chen did not suffer any major injuries apart from a small burn on her left hand.

She had carried her items in a branded leather bag, and she believed it was the material of the bag that contained the fire and prevented the heat from spreading quickly.

What was in her bag?

Other photos showed the items in her bag damaged beyond recognition.

The bag had contained a power bank, a cable, an access card, and a pair of wired headphones.

Chen said she believed the power bank was the likely cause of the smoke.

She had bought the power bank less than a year ago from a store in Funan.

Both the bag and power bank are currently with SMRT staff as they are investigating the issue, said Chen.

She added that she is seeking compensation for her branded bag from the power bank merchant as it was a wedding gift from a friend.

In response to Mothership's queries, president of SMRT Trains, Lam Sheau Kai, said the emergency communication button was activated on an eastbound train at Raffles Place station on the East-West Line at about 5:30pm on Friday.

Station staff used a fire extinguisher to put out the power bank fire and all 650 commuters on the train disembarked safely, he added.

Lam said: "To clear the smoke, our staff switched on the station’s exhaust system, and the smoke was gone soon after. Train services resumed once the affected train was moved to the depot for checks."

"Our staff provided first aid to the commuter, who declined ambulance assistance. No other injuries were reported.

Mothership has contacted the power bank merchant for comments.

Top image via Pat/Xiaohongshu