AT&T Network Hub Damaged in Nashville Blast – Phone, 911 Service Outages, Brief Ground Stop at Nearby Airport Reported

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An AT&T network hub was damaged in a predawn blast in Nashville, TN, yesterday. As a result cell phone, as well as landline service, has been disrupted in parts of Nashville and Knoxville in Tennessee, parts of Louisville, Kentucky, and Birmingham, Alabama, as well as areas of metropolitan Atlanta.

Emergency 911 service in Nashville was also disrupted although service has largely been restored. The communication outage also caused a brief ground stop at Nashville International Airport (BNA). Flight service there has largely resumed albeit with delays.

Witnesses reported hearing gunshots ring out in the area around 2nd Avenue North in downtown Nashville around 5:30am, Christmas morning. Police responding to the scene found a white boxy RV parked in front of an AT&T transmission building at 166 2nd Avenue North.

A computerized message was being broadcast from the vehicle. “Evacuate now,” it said. “This vehicle will explode in 15 minutes.”

Police worked feverishly to get the area evacuated, and at about 6:30am the vehicle exploded sending blast waves blocks away.

The explosion tore into at least 41 businesses, and one building partially collapsed, officials said. The city won’t allow anyone in the immediate area until Sunday afternoon, as the structural integrity of surrounding buildings has been threatened.

“It will be some time before 2nd Ave is back to normal,” Nashville Mayor John Cooper said yesterday.

Three people were transported to hospitals from the scene but none of them are in critical condition and no fatalities have been reported.

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