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KCR fire prompts safety campaign

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A PUBLIC safety education campaign is to be launched by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) after passengers forced open carriage doors and spilled onto the track during Tuesday's fire at Sha Tin station.

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Media manager Elinda Luk Hing-ling said passengers acted irresponsibly and put their own lives at risk in what was a chaotic situation.

She said some could have acted out of panic on realising there was a fire, but she believed many forced the doors out of sheer impatience.

''I wouldn't say they were stupid, but being anxious to leave the train meant they put themselves in danger,'' she said.

A southbound train stopped 400 metres from the station when fire broke out on a platform following the explosion of a compressor being used in the construction of a new escalator.

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The fire damaged overhead cables and officials decided to tow the train and its several hundred passengers back to Fo Tan.

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