Around 1:40 pm, a public works vehicle ripped open a low-pressure public distribution pipe (pressure: 21 mbar, diam.: 300 mm) in the city centre, causing a gas leak. A safety perimeter was set up; a total of 400 people, some from 6 nearby buildings, were evacuated and line A of the metro system was shut down. The gas department’s technical unit plugged the leak at 2:15 pm. Investigations conducted in the underground cellars and metro tunnels revealed no anomalies and the perimeter was lifted at approx. 4:15 pm. According to initial findings, earthworks (normally reported to the gas department) were underway and the pipeline, discovered in one of the trenches, was damaged subsequent to errant handling of the power shovel.