Ten buildings at Southern University were evacuated yesterday after a drilling crew ruptured a natural gas line outside of T.T. Allain.
At 11:50 a.m. students, faculty and staff were directed out of buildings including T.T. Allain, James, Moore, Lee and Pinchback Halls by Southern University police officers and East Baton Rouge Parish sheriffs as the foul odor drifted through the midday air.
Senior Keywan Johnson said that he noticed the pungent odor as he left his Calculus II class in T.T. Allain around 11:30 a.m.
“I smelled it as soon as I walked outside,” said Johnson, a computer science major from Vidalia. “It just hit me.”
The leak was contained in less than an hour.
According to SUPD, no injuries were reported, however, the accident was an inconvenience to lunch hour commuters.
Authorities blocked off the perimeter of the accident site closing E.C. Harrison Drive, B.A. Little Drive, Jessie N. Stone Avenue and Robert E. Smith Boulevard to incoming traffic.
Unable to get to their cars in the parking lot behind T.T. Allain, many students waited behind the red caution tape until authorities secured the area.
“There is nothing students can do but wait,” said SUPD officer Michael Cyrus.
Bryan Bush Construction Company Incorporated was in charge of the construction project that led to the cancellation of afternoon classes from noon to 2 p.m.
