Terrified passengers today told how they fled for their lives when a lit firework was thrown into a train full of shoppers and families.

The firework was hurled through the open doors of an Overground train as it stopped at Hackney Central station in east London.

The explosion, which some feared was a bomb or a gun being fired, sparked a mass stampede with witnesses describing hundreds of people screaming and running through the train.

The emergency alarm was pulled with some people jumping on to the tracks to get away during the incident at 6.40pm yesterday.

Police were today hunting who was responsible for the attack, which came during a weekend of firework-related chaos in the capital with the London Fire Brigade called to hundreds of incidents.

Commuter Tom Davies, who around 20ft from where the firework exploded, said: “It’s a miracle no one was seriously injured.

“I thought a gun had gone off and people just started running down the carriages. I jumped off and there were people everywhere screaming. There were loads of children crying. One girl got trampled on.

“It was a stampede. Everyone was just trying to get as far away from it as possible. People ran into the lift and down the stairs out of the station.”

Mr Davies, 31, a graphics operator at BT Sport, who was travelling home to Kentish Town after work, said: “The train was packed. It was full of families and people coming back from shopping at Westfield in Stratford.

“There was a lot of smoke coming out of the carriage. There was mass panic and it took a little while before people began to realise it was a firework.”

Jordan Mullineux, 22, who was in one of the last carriages said: “I was listening to music so I didn’t hear the bang but suddenly there were just hundreds of people streaming towards us.

“Everyone was screaming, it was complete panic.

“I pulled the emergency cord and the doors on the other side of the train opened and I jumped down on to the tracks and on to the platform at the other side.”

Analyst Ana Maria Bilciu said: “It was a human stampede and people were shouting and screaming as they ran out of the train and onto the platform.

“Kids were shouting for their mums and everyone was really panicked.”

Million Mask March London 2016 15 show all Million Mask March London 2016 1/15 Getty Images 2/15 Getty Images 3/15 Protesters confront the police on The Strand, PA 4/15 Protesters confront the police on The Strand PA 5/15 Police arrest a protester clutching a mask in Trafalgar Square Getty Images 6/15 Protesters don V for Vendetta-inspired Guy Fawkes masks EPA 7/15 Protestors follow police down Whitehall, London PA 8/15 There is an increased police presence for the march Joel Goodman/LNP 9/15 Masked protesters hold banners and flares as they stand on Nelson's Column Getty Images 10/15 The march was organised by the group Anonymous to protest austerity, government policy and what they consider corperate AFP/Getty Images 11/15 Campaigners set off flares as they began the march to Downing Street Getty Images 12/15 The group met at Trafalgar Square Getty Images 13/15 A masked protester holds a sign which reads 'We Are Legion' in Trafalgar Square Getty Images 14/15 Many are wearing the Guy Fawkes mask associated with the Anonymous hacking collective Getty Images 15/15 A protester holds a sign reading 'England under new management' AFP/Getty Images 1/15 Getty Images 2/15 Getty Images 3/15 Protesters confront the police on The Strand, PA 4/15 Protesters confront the police on The Strand PA 5/15 Police arrest a protester clutching a mask in Trafalgar Square Getty Images 6/15 Protesters don V for Vendetta-inspired Guy Fawkes masks EPA 7/15 Protestors follow police down Whitehall, London PA 8/15 There is an increased police presence for the march Joel Goodman/LNP 9/15 Masked protesters hold banners and flares as they stand on Nelson's Column Getty Images 10/15 The march was organised by the group Anonymous to protest austerity, government policy and what they consider corperate AFP/Getty Images 11/15 Campaigners set off flares as they began the march to Downing Street Getty Images 12/15 The group met at Trafalgar Square Getty Images 13/15 A masked protester holds a sign which reads 'We Are Legion' in Trafalgar Square Getty Images 14/15 Many are wearing the Guy Fawkes mask associated with the Anonymous hacking collective Getty Images 15/15 A protester holds a sign reading 'England under new management' AFP/Getty Images

No one is believed to have been injured in the incident, which is being investigated by British Transport Police.

It is the latest in a string of shocking firework attacks on the capital’s streets – including people launching fireworks at pedestrians.

On Thursday evening an ambulance was attacked in Croydon, south London, with a group letting off fireworks underneath while two paramedics were inside.

On Saturday rockets were thrown at police by masked protesters during the anti-capitalist Million Mask March through central London when 53 people were arrested.

While it emerged a teenager had attempted to rob someone selling their motorbike online with a firework in Belsize Court on October 26.

Firefighters took around 450 calls and were called to around 230 incidents across London from 6pm to 11.30pm on bonfire night.

Among incidents they are investigating from Saturday night is a fire which badly damaged two houses and a garage in Bexleyheath, south-east London.

London Fire Brigade has blamed rockets for starting two separate fires at a five-bedroom home in Perivale, west London, within a week.

Some 35 fire fighters rushed to the Devon Close property last Saturday after a rocket set off to celebrate Diwali hit a gazebo in the back garden.

The blaze quickly spread to the house, gutted the ground and first floors and ripped through the roof. Neighbouring properties were also damaged.

A second firework which landed in exposed roof timbers on Thursday night caused another fire at the same home.

Neighbours said the house was lived in by a ”hoarder” whose large numbers of possessions meant it “went up like a bonfire.”

Kalpa Hirani, 20, an events manager who lives next door with her family said: “The firefighters were struggling to get into the house through all his stuff so had to fight the fire though our home.

“There’s tens of thousands of pounds of damage caused by the water and smoke. We are having it all assessed by insurers this week. We’ve had to move out.”