Beijing staged a major fire drill Saturday morning in the city's subway in a bid to test its abilities to handle emergency situation of the underground mass transit system.

The fire drill started around 00:45 AM in the Guomao, or the World Trade Center stop on the horizontal Line 1, with a simulated fire that trapped several hundreds of people.

Shortly afterwards, more than 20 policemen, 100 fire-fighters and 20 rescue teams rushed to the site, cordoning off the area. Twenty vehicles loaded with smoke-ventilating, illumination, incision and fire extinguishing devices also rushed to the site.

Fire-fighters wearing fire and chemical proof outfit and oxygen masks went down the tunnels with the equipments to evacuate passengers, save the feigned casualties and put out fires.

The fire debris were later collected to check if they contain biochemical or radioactive substances.

Li Jin, deputy director of the Beijing fire control bureau, said the drill was organized to test the police and fire-fighting team's abilities to tackle subway crises that are likely to lead to massive casualties.

The drill is an important practice to ensure the security for the 17th National Congress of the CPC, which will begin on October 15, Li said, adding that it also helped them gather experiences to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Currently, Beijing has four rail lines totaling 114 kilometers, carrying more than 2 million passengers per day. The city will have nine lines totaling 200 km by 2008, and 19 lines totaling 561.5 km by 2020.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2007)