Gas leak forces evacuation near U of M in St. Paul

Residents have been allowed back to student housing near the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus after a natural gas leak forced a brief evacuation.

University spokeswoman Patty Mattern says a front-end loader was digging in a parking lot at Como Student Community Cooperative housing when it ruptured a gas line late Tuesday morning.

Mattern says 35 to 40 people were evacuated from the housing complex. A Metro Transit bus was brought in to house people during the evacuation, which lasted just over an hour.

No one was hurt and no classes were disrupted.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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