Gas leak causes problems at LBJ Hospital

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A gas leak caused problems for patients and staff at LBJ General Hospital on Thursday night.

After hours of searching for the source of the leak, hospital representatives say it was finally capped around 10pm. But it did create some problems at the hospital.

The smell of gas was present in the air and as a result of the gas leak, the hospital had to divert ambulances to different hospitals and only accepted walk-ins to the emergency room as they searched for the cause of the leak.

Hospital representatives say the leak started around 5pm while construction crews were working on an expansion that would double the ER when they believe they struck a line causing the leak. They have been asking patients, if possible, to go elsewhere.

"It's actually close to the ambulance drive. While they were doing construction out here, it was a misstep in the construction process," said Bryan McCleod of the Harris County Hospital District.

The entire first floor was evacuated except for the ER, where they were trying to continue operations as best they could.

They're expecting things to return to normal in the next few hours and to be back up and running at full capacity on Friday.

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local, christine dobbyn

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