Opossum spurs train evacuation

NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A New York transport spokesman said early-morning commuters had to evacuate a train when an opossum was found hitching a free ride.

Metropolitan Transportation Administration officials said the D train, which was headed into Manhattan Jan. 13 morning, was evacuated around 4:30 a.m. when a passenger spotted the critter scurrying around a train car, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

The spokesman said the opossum is believed to have boarded the train at Coney Island in Brooklyn and was removed by animal control officers at the West Fourth Street station.

The spokesman said he was unaware of any previous incidents involving opossums on city trains.