A minor fire broke outside the busy Rajiv Chowk metro station in Connaught Place here on Saturday afternoon.
Smoke due to the fire triggered the alarm, forcing the authorities to suspend train services and close the station for six minutes.
People were evacuated from the platform by security officials. Incidentally, the incident happened when the Delhi Metro was observing a ‘Fire Safety Week’ that concluded on Sunday.
According to fire officials, a rubber mat near gate no. 1 and 2 caught fire and thick smoke engulfed the station.
“Three fire tenders were rushed and the blaze was brought under control,” said a Delhi Metro spokesperson, insisting that the smoke was due to the burning of PVC material outside the gate in Central Park.
However, as a precautionary measure the station was closed at 1-22 p.m. and reopened within six minutes. On April 11 too, passengers noticed sparks emanating from the last coach of a metro train moving from Jahangirpuri to HUDA City Centre. The train was stopped and the passengers asked to disembark.