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People return to midtown buildings after gas leak forced evacuation

Crews work on a gas line break on North  Mountain Avenue, just north of East Prince Road on Wednesday.

Crews work on a gas line break on North Mountain Avenue, just north of East Prince Road on Wednesday.

A broken two-inch natural gas main forced the evacuation of a dozen people in midtown Tucson Wednesday morning and disrupted traffic, authorities said.

A construction crew installing a storm drain at East Prince Road and North Mountain Avenue broke the line about 9:35 a.m., said Libby Howell, a spokeswoman for Southwest Gas Corp.

Westbound Prince was closed until about 9:50 a.m., Howell said.

People were evacuated from buildings on the the intersection’s northeast corner, said Capt. Tricia Tracy, a Tucson Fire Department spokeswoman.

The leak was shut off at 9:45 a.m. and by shortly before 10 a.m. Prince was open and people were allowed to return to the buildings.

Holaway K-5 school, at 3500 North Cherry Ave., about three blocks from the leak, was not evacuated.

No injuries were reported during the incident.

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