Westin Book Cadillac Hotel evacuated overnight

Reports of underground explosion in the area

DETROIT – With sold out rooms early Thursday morning, the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit was evacuated after reports of an underground explosion.

The hotel said the evacuation took place at about 12:30 a.m. after an order from police.

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Police investigated reports of an underground explosion in the downtown area.

The hotel said a DTE Energy transformer may have caused the explosion. 

DTE released the following statement:

"At about 12:30 a.m. there were reports of (an) underground explosion in the vicinity of Washington Blvd. and Michign Ave. DTE Energy crews are on the scene and beginning to investigate to determine if the cause may be failure of an underground power cable on the DTE Electric system. When underground high-voltage cables fail, they release energy into a confined space. That typically causes an explosive noise. There are no reported power outages, but the network power system in downtown Detroit is designed with redundant capabilities so a cable failure may not cause outages."

Other buildings in the area were also evacuated.

As of 1:40 a.m., the police and fire department have given the all clear to the hotel. Guests returned to their rooms shortly after 2 a.m.

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