A large gas leak near Victoria Park Avenue and Kingston Road has been capped as crews continue to work to restore power to a few residents in the area.

Toronto Hydro shut off power to approximately 4,500 customers as a safety precaution after a construction crew struck an eight-inch gas line at around noon.

The leak was capped at around 5 p.m.

In a tweet sent out shortly before 8 p.m., Toronto Hydro said that power had been restored to all but approximately two dozen customers in the Kingston Road and Victoria Park Avenue area.

At its peak, the power outage affected customers in an area bounded by St. Clair Avenue in the north to Queen Street in the south and from Main Street East to Kennedy Road.

A number of homes and businesses were also evacuated due to the large volume of gas, Toronto Fire Services said.

Nearby Neil McNeil High School was also evacuated.

TTC buses were called in to provide shelter for people who had to leave homes. Kingston Road was closed from Scarborough Road to Blantyre Avenue, and Victoria Park Avenue was shut down from Winston to Bracken avenues.

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