Days of chaos ahead after burst pipe causes evacuation
One of the country's busiest courthouses will be closed for the rest of the week after hundreds of people were forced to evacuate when an emergency was declared.
Judges and magistrates had just taken the bench to hear 550 cases in Sydney's Downing Centre courtrooms on Tuesday morning when the power suddenly went out throughout the building.
After a few moments of confusion, an alert asked everyone to leave the building immediately due to a "street emergency".
Crowds of lawyers, judicial staff, accused criminals, and schoolkids on an excursion streamed down fire escape staircases onto Liverpool Street in the city centre.
Thirteen prisoners being held in the court complex were moved by police and prison staff as a precaution.
During the chaos, three people became trapped in elevators inside the court complex and needed to be rescued by Fire and Rescue NSW.
The culprit was a burst pipe, which gushed water onto Castlereagh and Goulburn streets, where barriers had been set up to divert traffic.
Ausgrid said the burst water main had flooded an underground substation in the city, causing a power outage that affected about 860 customers - including the courthouse.
The flooding affected all electrical and IT systems for the Downing Centre and John Madison Tower, a Department of Communities and Justice spokesperson said.
While power has been restored to some parts of the court precinct, Ausgrid has warned it might take several days to assess the damage and restore power after the complex outage.
The justice department spokesperson said the damage to the Downing Centre's electrical room was "significant" and critical equipment would likely need to be replaced.
The department expects the eight-level courthouse will be closed for the rest of the week.
Cases scheduled to be heard at the Downing Centre would be moved to other courthouses or be rescheduled, the spokesperson said.
Sydney Water will continue repairing the water main overnight after technicians stemmed the flow about an hour after the water started pouring onto the street.
The courthouse was among about 400 electricity customers that remained without power on Tuesday afternoon, according to Ausgrid.
The cause of the water main rupture is unknown as NSW Police and Fire and Rescue NSW investigate.
It comes two weeks after a refurbishment of the department-store-turned-courthouse was announced.
At least five new courtrooms and 10 virtual courtrooms will be created during the $34.5 million upgrade of the Downing Centre and John Maddison Tower, according to the state government.
The funding forms part of a half-billion-dollar push to beef up the state justice system and support victim-survivors.
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