SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Authorities have shut off a gas leak almost four hours after a break in a high-pressure natural gas line forced hundreds of people to evacuate buildings in downtown South Bend.

Police Capt. Phil Trent said the leak sounded like a jet engine when he arrived on the scene soon after the leak was reported this morning.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. spokesman Mike Charbonneau says the line was damaged by a contractor working on a street project.

Trent said several hundred people evacuated the four-square-block area but that no injuries or other damage was reported.

He says utility crews have stopped the leak and are checking buildings in the area for residual gas, but that it is up to building owners to decide when to reopen.