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The Whitehall Houston will be closed without power until Friday, a week after firefighters were called to the scene of an explosion at the hotel in Downtown Houston.
According to the Houston Fire Department, three contractors were working on the electrical breaker underground at the hotel in the 1700 block of Smith when the blasts happened. One contractor was rushed to Memorial Hermann hospital after suffering life-threatening injuries, according to HFD Deputy Chief Blake White. A second worker suffered hand injuries.
Black smoked billowed from a nearby manhole, burning the exterior of the burning and staining the surrounding area. The hotel's director of sales and marketing denies an explosion took place, but numerous firsthand accounts in the Houston Chronicle describe the sound and smoke as people near the hotel fled the area. Investigators say a surge overloaded the circuit breaker and caused it to explode, ABC 13 reports.
The Whitehall has relocated its guests and is accepting new reservations beginning Nov. 17.
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