Southwest Illinois residents lose power after vehicle crash

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - Authorities say thousands of southwest Illinois residents were without power after a vehicle crashed into a utility pole.

The Belleville News-Democrat (http://bit.ly/1Xd3pYS ) reports the number jumped to nearly 7,000 outages around 8 a.m. Sunday.

Ameren Illinois officials say power was expected to be restored to most customers by 9 a.m. and estimated power will be restored for all customers by mid-day.

Spokesman Brian Bretsch says the cause of the outages around areas including Collinsville and Caseyville was that a vehicle hit a subtransmission pole. The company was notified of the outages and dispatched workers at 7 a.m.

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com