Police: Blown transformer causes power outages at several US government buildings

Authorities say an electrical transformer explosion has caused power outages at several government buildings in Washington.

Officer Araz Alali, a D.C. police spokesman, says the transformer blew at 9:05 a.m. Monday at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. He says the problem was a mechanical failure and no one was injured.

Most power at the State Department was lost and employees were told to work as best they could. Other buildings affected included the Federal Reserve, the General Services Administration, Metro's Smithsonian subway station, the Labor Department, the U.S. Park Police and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Lights flickered off then on at the White House, but that appeared to be unrelated. A Pepco spokesman said a cable was damaged during construction on private property around the same time.