Walmart reopens, gas leak repaired

The Walmart in Benton Harbor was evacuated for just over 2 hours Tuesday morning after an employee accidentally hit a gas line with a forklift.

The employee was operating the forklift behind the building when he struck the line, which caused the shutoff valve to break off.

The store was evacuated as a precaution around 10:30 a.m.

Benton Township Police and store employees blocked off the entrances to the store.

Michigan Gas Utilities responded to the scene.

Repairs took a couple of hours.

"In order to shut the gas off, we had to go back to the main, dig the main up, and shut the service line off at the main," said Nick Krzeminski of Michigan Gas Utilities.

The store reopened around 12:45 p.m.

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