A passenger brought one of China's high-speeds trains to a standstill in Henan Province on Tuesday after her perfume set off the train's smoke alarm, reports zynews.cn.
The train from Zhengzhou to Anyang came to an emergency stop after a smoke alarm in one of the toilets went off. A train technician rushed to the carriage but found no smoke and no fire. Instead, they found that a female passenger had sprayed so much perfume in the bathroom that it triggered the train's sensitive smoke detector.
The incident brought the train to a stop for three minutes. "For a high speed train, three minutes are very important," said a staff member with the Zhengzhou railway administration. He said that there is only a five-minute interval between trains during rush hours, and even a short unplanned stop might lead to cascading delays.
There have reportedly been a large number of incidents in China where high-speed trains have come to an emergency stop because of passengers spraying perfume, sunscreen spray, or floral water that sets off a smoke alarm.