Parliament House, Canberra evacuated as smoke fills the corridors

Parliament House in Canberra is evacuated as smoke suddenly fills the corridors

Senate wing of the building evacuated
Around 100 staffers waited outside
There was no sign of any damage

By Zak Wheeler For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 20:00 EDT, 16 April 2023 | Updated: 21:55 EDT, 16 April 2023

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The entire Senate wing of Parliament House in Canberra has been evacuated due to smoke in the corridors.

Reporters in the Federal press gallery reported smoke had wafted through four levels of the capital building about 9am on Monday.

Sirens sounded and emergency services were called to the scene as the large crowd of around 100 evacuees were seen gathering outside the building.

The Senate wing of Parliament House was evacuated because of the smoke drifting in the air unit, there was no fire associated with the incident.

There was no visible sign of damage to the building.

The entire Senate wing of Parliament House in Canberra has been evacuated due to smoke in the corridors

Around 100 staffers waited outside for an hour while emergency services attended the scene

After one firetruck responded to initial alarms, a second arrived roughly around 10am while staffers were still waiting outside of Parliament for the situation to be resolved.

Reporters were soon after told that the evacuation was caused by a faulty drive belt in the air handling unit which caused smoke which then triggered the fire alarms.

As temperatures reached 10 degrees outside, some reporters from the press gallery were left to battle the cold.

‘The Senate wing of Parliament House has been evacuated with reports over the loudspeaker of smoke in part of the building,’ the

‘Still outside – another fire truck turned up recently, the sirens are still blaring in the building – it’s 10 degrees and I didn’t bring a coat,’ the Guardians’ political reporter Josh Butler wrote on twitter.

‘Not thriving here.’