From: Andrew Johnson
Date: 2006-04-13 12:29:26
I received this from a contact on my mailing list. It may be nothing – but here is the info, just in case in pans out. Delete it if you think it’s nonsense!! Fine by me! Forward if you think important. www.trunews.com/publ… Listen to the 1st section, after the “headlines”. The power outage was reported by Reuters and others: today.reuters.co.uk/… Power outage prompts U.S. Capitol evacuation
Mon Apr 3, 2006 6:38 PM BST WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Capitol was evacuated for about an hour on Monday after electricity was briefly lost, putting much of the building in the dark. Lawmakers, staff and credentialed journalists were permitted to reenter the building at about 1:15 p.m. after power had been restored, though tourists were not immediately allowed back in. There was no immediate word on what caused the outage at about noon. Capitol Police said the matter was being investigated. The chief of staff for Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist said both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate were evacuated because of the widespread blackout. Neither was in session at the time. “It’s routine procedure to evacuate the building,” said spokesman Eric Ueland. A Department of Homeland Security official said it was a “simple power outage” that only affected the Capitol not other buildings. While the cause was not immediately known, there has been extensive construction nearby for a new underground visitor’s centre. Alarms went off on both sides of the Capitol at midday and people were ordered to leave. U.S. Capitol police directed people to move away from the building and across the street, where they stood in a light drizzle mingling with people protesting the immigration bill under debate in the Senate. (Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell) © Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
