Birmingham New Street station evacuated as emergency 'leave now' alert blares

Birmingham New Street station was evacuated today as sirens blared and members of the public were told "please leave". An announcement played at the train station warned anyone present: "This is an emergency." Commuters were asked to immediately leave the building by the nearest available exit at 5:45pm today. A video showed the announcement blaring through the station speakers as the public were warned: "Attention please, attention please. This is an emergency. Please leave the building by the nearest available exit." Mimi Ibrahim, a reporter from the Express & Star who was at the scene, said the public were only evacuated "for around three minutes" before being allowed back in to catch their trains. "It was weird . All you heard was the voice over the speaker telling us to leave," she told the publication. "We were only outside for around three minutes before they let us back in." The Mirror has contacted Network Rail and the British Transport Police for comment.