Train evacuated over man ‘reading homophobic Bible verses’
A train was evacuated near London this morning after passengers fled from a man reading anti-gay verses of the Bible.
The line into London Waterloo was disrupted over the incident, which took place on the 7:40 South Western Railway train from Shepperton to Waterloo.
According to the Richmond and Twickenham Times, passengers grew alarmed with a fellow passenger reading a verse from the Bible which suggests “men who lie with men” should be put to death.
Commuters grew alarmed over the man’s actions and opened an emergency door when the train was stopped at a signal, fleeing onto the tracks.
One passenger said that the man had been loudly preaching against gay sex when passengers “started to panic” over his erratic actions.
The witness said: “He caused such panic that some people have forced open the doors and jumped on the tracks.
“He recited lines about homosexuality and sex outside marriage being a sin, God gave his only son for our sins etc. Some guy tried to tell him to stop it as he was scaring people and causing a crush.”
Some passengers reportedly mistakenly believed that the man posed a terror threat, as he had a large rucksack and was preaching about doomsday.
Police searched the train and found no suspicious items.
File photo (Creative Commons photo/Joshua Brown)Police were called to the incident, but no arrests were made.
A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “We were called at 8.31 AM to a disturbance on board a train just outside Wimbledon station.
“Passengers had evacuated themselves off the train onto the tracks.
“We are currently investigating but there have been no arrests and there are no reported injuries.”
Network Rail said: “Passengers self-evacuated off a train and on to the tracks at Wimbledon this morning after a passenger incident.
“British Transport Police are investigating and there were no injuries to passengers or staff.”
The incident caused disruption on the line, compounded by an earlier signal failure.
