Hundreds of passengers had to be evacuated after smoke began pouring from the seats.

Shocked travellers heard a loud bang which was followed by plumes of thick grey smoke emerging inside the carriage in Manila, the Philippines on Tuesday (05/11) afternoon.

Some of the passengers made their way out of the closed coaches by forced-opening the train doors and ran towards the exit of the Manila Metro Rail Transit System Line 3 (MRT 3) Santolan station.

No one was hurt in the incident.

On November 7, the Department of Transportation announced that the incident was caused by a broken bearing cover.

A spokesman said: "The cause of the incident was due to a short circuit in one of the traction motors. It also showed on the affected parts that high current flowed in the circuit, causing significant damage to the electrical box and adjacent parts."

The MRT-3 system management appealed for the public’s understanding as there is a "massive rehabilitation of the system ongoing."