Two people performing work related to the Purple Line near the University of Maryland were hurt when they came in contact with a live electrical feeder inside a manhole on Wednesday.
The workers are Kelly Electric employees and were doing power line relocation work inside an underground manhole on campus. They were taken to local hospitals, Purple Line spokesman Ray Feldmann said in a statement.
“The incident is under investigation, and operations at this site on campus have been suspended until the investigation is complete,” Feldmann said.
The university experienced a brief power outage Wednesday morning. Campus police said power was fully restored on campus at around 7:30 p.m.
The loss of power to the university did not interrupt the schedule of classes, and accommodations were made for staff working in the buildings affected by the outage, the statement said.
The university is checking to make sure emergency systems are operating as planned, and crews are attempting to restore normal operations.
The Maryland Transit Administration is working closely with Kelly Electric and the university to restore power to the affected buildings, Feldmann said.
Campus police said most but not all of the building have had the power restored.
The Purple Line is a 16-mile light-rail line with 21 stations extending from Bethesda, in Montgomery County, to New Carrollton, in Prince George’s County, and includes a stop at the university.
WTOP’s Abigail Constantino and Valerie Bonk contributed to this report.
