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A LOUD bang sounded inside a stationary MRT train at City Hall station on Friday morning.
It was followed by a pungent white smoke that drove 300 passengers from the train into a south-bound tunnel.
They ambled 250m along the tracks before climbing up a seven-storey staircase, emerging safely in front of the Padang.
The 'evacuation' was part of a youth camp designed to teach students about matters like firstaid, fire-fighting and how to escape from a train attacked by terrorists.
The four-day Community Safety & Security Programme Challenge Camp, now in its sixth year, also aimed to make students more aware of their surroundings and prepare them for things like a bomb attack.
Themed 'Vigilant Youth, Resilient Nation', it included 300 secondary students from 24 schools and began on Tuesday.
Students from the Singapore Management University, as well as those from three madrasahs, also took part in the evacuation exercise.
Senior Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew was the guest of honour.
Before the train evacuation, students were briefed on how to report suspicious persons and items they came across in the MRT.
They also learnt to use safety features such as the emergency communication button, emergency-stop plungers and fire extinguishers.
Two SMRT staff members, dressed in black and carrying bags, even posed as terrorist suspects. The students tried to spot them and report them to the authorities.
The camp was organised by a committee of student volunteers with guidance from non-profit youth organisation Heartware Network.
'I believe the students are now more aware of their surroundings,' said organising committee president John Ang, 17, a Year 5 student from Anglo- Chinese School (Independent).
Riverside Secondary School student Arjun Sasangan, 14, found the exercise 'relatively realistic'.
'I feel that I have the skills and knowledge now to react in the event of a real emergency,' he said.
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