Six passengers suffered minor injuries during a morning rush hour panic Wednesday, after a false fire alarm aboard a Line 7 subway carriage forced the conductor to slam on the emergency brakes as the train pulled into Zhenping Road station.

The sudden stop caused the train to tremor before pulling into the station, when an undisclosed number of frightened passengers rushed off, with their shoes and personal belongings flying everywhere, according to witness accounts.

"Many people were pushed by the crowds and fell on the elevator and platform," one witness wrote on her Sina microblog account. "It looked like a stampede scene from an apocalyptic movie."

The six hurt people suffered only bruising from the episode that occurred around 9 am, after five shrilling alarm sounds went off from a smoke detector on the train. But, when the conductor and subway officers checked the alarm, there were no signs of smoke or fire.

Regular operations were resumed minutes afterwards.

Subway officials gave a brief apology for the incident on their official microblog Wednesday, but failed to say what triggered the false alarm.

Global Times