TOKYO (TR) – Services on the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train were suspended on Sunday after a tablet computer belonging to a passenger burst into flames, reports TV Asahi (Sept. 25).
According to Tokyo Metropolitan Police, the Nozomi 234 was halted between Shin-Yokohama and Shinagawa stations at around 5:30 p.m. after the tablet, belonging to a man in his 40s, suddenly began emitting smoke before bursting into flames.
There were no injuries in the incident.
According to police, the passenger boarded the train in Nagoya. After the device burst into flames, a passenger pressed an emergency button that caused the train to stop.
The fire was subsequently extinguished. A chair and table were later found to have been burned, police said.
The tablet was made in Taiwan. The source of the fire is believed to have been the device’s battery. The cause of the fire is under investigation, police said.
The train subsequently arrived at Shinagawa Station eight minutes behind schedule.
