One UNC employee injured in Dey Hall accident; power out on central campus

Campus buildings have restored power as of 7:20 p.m., UNC spokesperson Jim Gregory said. The only buildings still without power are Dey Hall and Wilson Library.

Classes beginning before noon in Dey and Wilson are cancelled, and employees are asked not to report to work until power is restored, according to an AlertCarolina message

Lenoir Dining Hall, Student Stores and the Carolina Union are all closed Wednesday night, the AlertCarolina said. They will reopen Thursday morning along with main campus libraries.

The AlertCarolina message said the Dey Hall accident took place in an electrical closet, and officials are still investigating.

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Power is out in central campus buildings as of 3:50 Wednesday afternoon, and UNC spokesperson Jim Gregory says one University employee was injured an accident in Dey Hall.

Staff reports indicate that the Undergraduate Library, Davis Library, Murphey Hall, Carroll Hall, the Campus Y, Dey Hall and Ruffin Residence Hall are all without power. Lenoir Dining Hall, the Carolina Union and Student Stores have all closed because they are without power. Gregory said power should be restored shortly.

According to an email from the Department of Housing and Residential Education, students are not allowed to stay overnight in residence halls if power is not restored. The department is encouraging students to remove necessary belongings from their rooms by 7:30 p.m. and either report to the basement of Cobb Residence Hall by 9 p.m. or arrange to stay elsewhere.

The snowpocalypse is already upon us! Power is out @ Lenoir, so we're closed until further notice . . . ☁❄⛄❄☁ #lightsout #saveyourselves

— Carolina Dining (@CDSatUNC) January 20, 2016

The UNC Libraries Twitter account announced that the libraries affected by the power outage — including Davis, the Undergraduate Library, and Wilson Library — closed at 5 p.m.

Other buildings may also be without power, and The Daily Tar Heel is working to confirm the full list of buildings. Rams Head Dining Hall is operating, according to Carolina Dining Services' Twitter account.

Gregory said the Chapel Hill Fire Department and UNC Environment Health and Safety officials are investigating the accident, and the University employee was transported by Emergency Medical Services.

Jack Davis, a Daily Tar Heel reporter who was going to class in Dey Hall, said he heard an explosion and the lights went out. About five minutes later, he heard someone yelling for water, and then fire alarms went off.

Davis interviewed multiple witnesses outside Dey who said someone was injured in the building. Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Enterprises Brad Ives, who was also outside Dey, said someone left the scene in an ambulance.

Nyal Patel, a first-year business major, said he was in class in Dey when he heard a big boom and the fire alarm went off. Patel saw paramedics helping an injured man outside the building.

Qiaoxi Li, a fourth-year chemistry Ph.D. student, said she and her lab colleagues saw a fire and an injured man coming out of Dey. She said her colleague tried to help the man, who she thought was not conscious.

Li thought the victim was a middle-aged man.

Buildings farther from the center of campus, including McIver Residence Hall and the FedEx Global Education Center, do have power. Campus WiFi is also affected.

Check this page for updates.