Classrooms, offices, and establishments inside the University were plunged in darkness on Thursday night, April 4, after an explosion at the electrical distribution facilities near Gate 11 in Dapitan Street.

Evening classes at some buildings in the University were cut short as students and staff were told to evacuate after the explosion, which happened at around 6:50 pm. This reporter also heard a second explosion coming from the area at the back of the St. Raymund de Peñafort Building, where electric generators stood.

Second-year Philosophy student Angel Cruz was among the students taking classes at St. Raymund’s when the incident happened.

“It was our 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. class and our professor dismissed us early so when the power outage happened, most of us were outside our room. [However,] I was still inside since I was fixing my things, she told TomasinoWeb. She only learned of the explosion after her friends informed her.

“Maybe I was just too occupied and did not notice that an explosion occurred. But of course, upon being notified about it, I felt a little scared and was even joking to ease my mind and my friend, who seemed to be really scared, especially since [it] was really dark given it was past 7 p.m.,” she added.

Cruz said some support staff told students to wait outside the building for power to be restored. Some students found levity amid the darkness, while staff set to work to see if people were trapped in elevators. The Security Office later said no students were trapped in the elevators during the outage.

“A group of students made a flashlight TikTok trend. However, something caught our attention when we saw [a] non-teaching personnel in front of the elevator, and we immediately thought that someone was stuck inside the lobby elevator due to the power outage,” Cruz added.

As of 8:20 p.m, St. Raymund’s, the UST Carpark, Central Seminary Building including the Santissimo Rosario Parish, and the Tan Yan Kee Student Center remained without power.

Meanwhile, the Albertus Magnus Building, Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building, Main Building, Roque Ruaño Building, San Martin de Porres Building, Quadricentennial Pavilion, UST Hospital, Beato Angelico Building, and Central Laboratory were powered by generator sets.

Other areas near Dapitan Street were also apparently affected by the incident. Heinz Aldana, a third-year Journalism student, told TomasinoWeb that he experienced three power outages after the explosion while staying at his dormitory, which was directly in front of the electric post where the first explosion occurred.

“We experienced a power outage that lasted for not more than 30 seconds, but there have been four explosions throughout the night, and my dorm was affected thrice,” he said.

“Partida yung pwesto ng dorm ko nasa pinaka likod ng building pero ramdam ko pa ‘rin [the explosion] (Even if my room is at the back of the building, I still felt the explosion),” he added.

Linemen from the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) conducted repairs overnight.

The incident prompted the Office of the Secretary-General to order a shift to the Enriched Virtual Mode (EVM) setup for classes and work-from-home arrangement for offices on Friday, April 5, after the power outage on Thursday night.—With reports from Miguel Angelo Sumalinog