Hundreds of people in the City of London were evacuated due to a gas leak on Tuesday.
Emergency services were called to London Wall in the City at about 4pm. The 25-metre cordon remained in place until after 9pm, when the area was reopened to the public.
London fire brigade said they were called to reports of a gas leak from the cellar of a coffee shop and had been standing by in case they were needed while engineers rectified the problem.
Approximately 500 people had been evacuated, a City of London police spokesperson told the Guardian. No fatalities or injuries were reported.
Eyewitness Matt Harris, who owns Fox Fine Wines on London Wall, told the London Evening Standard: “[The emergency services] are telling us it’s an absolutely massive gas leak in the sub-basement. They said they’re going to have to dig the street up to get the gas out.”
He said there was little panic as City of London police told customers they had to leave the building.
Evacuation at London Wall!! pic.twitter.com/UuLS6T0Nt6
— Aniel Patel (@anielpatel) July 26, 2016
A spokesperson for the London fire brigade said: “The gas engineers are currently working on it and we have a fire engine on standby just in case we are needed. The surrounding buildings, which were mainly offices, were all evacuated and fortunately we haven’t yet been needed. We’re just there as a precaution.”
Buildings around London Wall Street evacuated due to gas leak pic.twitter.com/vGHGYvy2AM
— Yoni (@Arbelix) July 26, 2016
People were advised to avoid the area with delays to be expected. TFL Traffic News tweeted that London Wall was shut eastbound at Wood Street and westbound at Blomfield Street, adding that the closures were expected to be lifted within a couple of hours.
The City of London police announced the road reopening on their Twitter account.
#LondonWall has now reopened following the earlier gas leak.
— City Police (@CityPolice) July 26, 2016
