Trains bypass Mapo Station for almost 40 minutes due to suspicious bag

Trains on subway line No. 5 in western Seoul bypassed Mapo Station on Sunday following reports of possible explosives planted at the station.

A view of Mapo station in a filed photo. [YONHAP]

Trains on subway line No. 5 in western Seoul bypassed Mapo Station on Sunday following reports of possible explosives planted at the station.

At 1:58 p.m., station staff reported a suspicious carrier bag at Mapo Station in Mapo District, western Seoul, to the police and requested that it be inspected for explosives, according to Seoul Metro, an operator of Seoul subway lines No. 1 to 8, and fire authorities.

In response to the report, Seoul Metro instructed trains on line No. 5 to bypass Mapo Station starting from 2:39 p.m.

Police and fire authorities promptly arrived at the scene, where they discovered only clothes inside the carrier bag.

Subway operations returned to normal around 3:18 p.m., concluding the almost 40-minute bypassing of Mapo Station.

BY WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]