Crews continue to work on gas line which ruptured on Julian R. Allsbrook Highway this morning in a area where road improvements are underway.

Lieutenant Chris Horvath of the Roanoke Rapids Fire Department said an excavator struck a gas line near Dixon Law.

The initial call came in shortly after 9 a.m.

The leak forced evacuation of businesses from Georgia to Virginia avenues.

There was no estimation of a completion time.

Both Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District and North Carolina State Department of Transportation said an 8-inch line was damaged.