The subway collides with a small object, causing smoke and panic

Commuters on a rush-hour train were rushed to the exits in a panic after a subway train struck an object on the tracks and filled 59th Street and the Lexington train station with smoke Monday night.

The frantic scene unfolded just after 6 p.m. when a northbound Lane 6 struck the unidentified object as it pulled into the station, the MTA and FDNY said.

When the train doors opened, a “crazy rush” of people came out and fled the station, Straphanger Frazer Rice told The Post.

“People were definitely sprinting to the left and then two cops came by and looked down the subway and looked at people in confusion and said, ‘Get out.’ And we got out and everyone else ran and that was about it,” recalled Rice, driving uptown from Spring Street.

It was not immediately clear what hit the train. No injuries were reported.

The NYPD confirmed officers were on site to evacuate commuters from the smoke.

Rice, who said he didn’t see any smoke himself, said he thinks the panic started when other drivers saw people sprinting and decided they should too.

“By the time the doors opened I think people saw people starting to move to rush to the left but there was nothing to cause panic. But when the doors opened, it was pretty clear people were running and then people were getting out.”

“The two police officers who were there got to the scene very quickly,” he added. “The doors opened and it couldn’t have been more than 5 or 10 seconds before they were on their way to the back of the platform and they said, ‘Okay, everyone out.'”

However, the incident affected operations along Lines 4-5-6, which were delayed at 6:45 p.m said MTA in a tweet.