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Oxford Circus Station in London Reopens After Panicked Evacuation | |
(35 minutes later) | |
LONDON — A report of gunfire led to the panicked evacuation of one of London’s most crowded subway stations on Friday evening, but the scare proved to be short-lived, a testament perhaps to nerves frayed by a year in which London has been targeted by several terrorist attacks. | |
The station was reopened within 90 minutes, as the police reported that they had “not located any trace of suspects, evidence of shots fired or casualties.” | |
Earlier, witnesses at Oxford Circus, thronged with shoppers on “Black Friday,” one of the busiest shopping days of the year, described a scene of panic, with people running from the station, some in tears. Shopping bags littered the sidewalk, and one woman was seen running down the street wearing just one shoe. | |
Mattias Nilsson, 45, said he was in town with friends for a Premier League soccer match and was near the station when he heard people shouting, “Shooting! Terrorists!” | |
“We just ran. Everyone started running,” he said. “This is making me nervous.” | “We just ran. Everyone started running,” he said. “This is making me nervous.” |
The police closed off roads within several blocks of Oxford Circus and urged people in the area to take shelter in stores and office buildings. | |
The Metropolitan Police then issued a statement saying that officers had responded to calls at 4:38 p.m. and were proceeding “as if the incident is terrorist related.” But Transport for London was more measured, calling it a “customer incident.” | |
Finally, the British Transport Police released a statement saying that the only injury reported was that of a woman hurt in the stampede, and that was minor. | |
It remained unclear what exactly touched off the panic. One witness on Twitter said there had been “a fight on the westbound platform that involved around 20 people. There was a lot of screaming, shouting and crying. As I got on to the tube the comms speaker announced the station was getting evacuated and for everyone to leave.” | |
At that point, the witness said, people started running for the exits. |