A fire appears to have broken out at Tokyo’s busy Shibuya station, famous for being home of Hachiko and handling over 2.4 million passengers per day as one of the capital’s busiest stations. According to time stamps from tweets, the fire started at around 11:30pm on February 19, and was extinguished before midnight.
The source of the fire has yet to be confirmed, but eagle-eyed netizens watched the drama unfold in real-time on Twitter, as those at the station uploaded reams of photographs, videos, tweets, and statuses about the commotion.
The thread below was complied from tweets on the Twitter compilation site Togetter.com, and capture the panic and confusion of the unexpected fire explosion.
From Togetter.com:
Commotion Over Explosion at Shibuya Station?
tori_555:
I compiled this as quickly as I could.
jirolian:
Something is exploding beneath the guard barrier at Shibuya station! http://t.co/jQSKc5qc
nasuko_tsushin:
Something is burning underneath the elevated tracks of the Shibuya station Yamanote line. Something made an exploding sound –bang bang — and I felt I was in danger（ﾟдﾟlll） http://t.co/0sdqRGwQ
mugeso:
There’s been an explosion at Shibuya station; there are clouds of smoke. http://t.co/w5zU8uh5
elizatail:
When I was waiting at Shibuya station for the train to depart, smoke came out of the train and I couldn’t get home. I wonder if you can see from this picture that it’s a bit smokey? http://t.co/Ymx33WvD
yosukeoka:
A house made from cardboard boxes [often used as refuge by the homeless] has caught fire beneath the elevated tracks of the Toyoko line at Shibuya station. Is today fire day?http://t.co/SwNZKrqh
mackerel_can:
Mysterious smoke came from the Toyoko line train when it was stopped at Shibuya station. The passengers are still inside the train and no one has instructed us to do anything — I wonder if it will be ok? The doors on the opposite side to the smoke are open, though…
moto666:
Is this Shibuya station fire thing happening in real time? There are loads of tweets.
sa9_kyou:
An explosion at Shibuya?
mnishisa:
Commotion over white smoke at Shibuya station Toyoko line http://t.co/yrvZ0bGp
sho_15eren:
Fire at Shibuya station http://t.co/VPvEgth1
c00y:
I was on the platform at Shibuya, and I could kind of smell something burning. Is it just me?
shuji:
What’s happened at Shibuya station?
holyberg:
It seems that the Toyoko line has stopped because of smoke coming from beneath Shibuya station.#fb
nabam_music:
Looks like there is an explosion at the Shibuya station Toyoko line. It’s possible that we might not be able to get the last train. What the hell…
nagaokatasuku:
Fire at Shibuya station now.http://t.co/cyv8kvmg
resort_lover:
The Toyoko line suddenly blew up as I was waiting for the train to depart at Shibuya! From what I’ve seen it doesn’t look like there are any people who are injured, thankfully…
syunsyun24:
[Newsflash] Explosion beneath the elevated tracks at Shibuya station. Casualties unknown. Loud noises continuing. http://t.co/T6lGXH48
mr_dali :
A fire has just started at Shibuya station. The Toyoko line platform is full of smoke w, the fire is being put out. Why is there a fire now? I mean, more than 80% of people are taking photos on their smartphones, and all uploading them to Facebook and Twitter. That’s weirder than the fire. http://t.co/f5LKvWiR
JRDNLive:
#Toyoko line [Shibuya – Yokohama] Other details: There was an explosion and smoke came out of a carriage. It is better to take an alternative route #Kanto #TrainDelay
uniou:
Just as in the pictures, looks like a homeless person’s den is burning beneath the guard barrier. RT @tori_555: Did the train explode!?
tazy_r34:
Isn’t there a Chinese restaurant over where the fire is at Shibuya station?
What? So after andrew_TandB:
Baba and Awajicho, now Shibuya?
ysakaki:
When you look at where the fire was extinguished, it must have been a small fire, but it really seem like the flames were pretty big, didn’t it? I wonder if there was a lighter or compressed gas cylinder in there?
ucchii129:
@tori_555 I’m hearing that there’s been a fire explosion in a store beneath the guard barrier 246 at the Toyoko line at Shibuya station.
train_109_tyk:
Due to the fire on the tracks at Shibuya station, trains are postponed. We are transferring passengers.
rap_ :
There’s a video of the fire at Shibuya! http://t.co/CcKSJWOO
tori_555:
There’s so much conflicting information, like people are saying that it was a homeless person’s cardboard house, that it was a store beneath the guard barrier, or that it came from a carriage etc…
train_109_tyk:
Due to the outbreak of fire on the tracks at Shibuya station, trains are being postponed; however, at 23:50, trains will recommence. Trains are running late.
