A ruptured pipe in the middle of an excavation
A powerful emergency response unfolded in Buenos Aires's Caballito neighborhood on Monday after a gas pipe was broken during work on Avenida La Plata at around 600, near its junction with Juan Bautista Alberdi and Valle. According to official sources, a mechanical shovel operated at the site cracked a Metrogas line, releasing a leak that produced a strong smell and a loud noise. City Fire Department crews from the Caballito station went to the scene and requested Metrogas personnel to stop the loss.[S1][S2]
Police sources told the Noticias Argentinas agency that staff from the company Britos ruptured a medium-pressure pipe while using a backhoe at a construction site. The affected structure was described as a building with a basement, ground floor, and eight upper floors, alongside another ground floor used for a commercial premises, with the remaining levels given over to apartments.[S3]
School and buildings cleared as a precaution
Authorities ordered the preventive evacuation of the Escuela Primaria Común N° 9 Florentino Ameghino, located roughly 20 meters from the break, and the school was emptied in an orderly fashion. Nearby residents were also moved out. Alberto Crescenti, head of the SAME emergency medical service, said two buildings were evacuated, including one at number 611 on Avenida La Plata.[S1][S2]
Two operators from the Caballito detachment's Special Rescue Group entered that building to inspect it floor by floor and judge whether residents needed to leave. At number 605 on the same avenue, a gallery with two open commercial units in its basement was also cleared, with emergency staff telling employees to exit immediately.[S1]
Twelve people treated and one taken to hospital
SAME deployed 12 vehicles to the area and treated more than a dozen people at the scene, among them two minors aged 10 and 17 and the rest adults. One person was transferred to Hospital Durand. Crescenti confirmed that patients were given oxygen after inhaling gas, and he explained that the aim was to prevent the nausea and vomiting that can follow exposure.[S1][S2]
The medical post was set up about 40 meters from the escape point, in what Crescenti described as a safe area far enough away that no gas smell could be detected. At the time he spoke, the leak had not yet been brought under control and the pipe was still venting, although Metrogas crews were already on site working on repairs.[S1]
Leak controlled and a recent precedent
Shortly before 3 p.m., Metrogas reported that the leak was under control after its team located the affected section and stopped the escape. Traffic on Avenida La Plata stayed normal while emergency teams worked, according to one outlet.[S1][S2][S3]
The incident follows a similar one in July 2026, when a backhoe carrying out drainage work near the Dellepiane highway in Bajo Flores broke a 4-inch high-pressure pipe in the Metrogas distribution network. That leak forced a preventive closure of the lane heading into the capital and required three technical teams to dig pits on both sides of the pipe to isolate and press it; full control came only after 5 p.m. and work wrapped up near 7 p.m.[S1]
