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A man was hospitalised and students evacuated at the University of Canberra following an incident at a student residence on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, police and hazmat crews were still investigating whether there were "contaminants” in a fourth-floor room in Cooper Lodge, and sections of the building remained cordoned off. An ACT Ambulance Service spokeswoman confirmed a male patient had been taken to Canberra Hospital late on Tuesday, but did not provide details on his condition. About 7.30pm, students were evacuated following an incident in the student hall. It is unclear how many people were involved. "Police can confirm the scene has been contained and there is no ongoing threat to public safety," an ACT Policing spokesman said. While police said the incident was not related to a gas leak or mental health, investigations into the nature of what had happened were continuing. Film student Aditya Jain was cooking his dinner on the sixth floor of Cooper Lodge when an alarm sounded to evacuate after 7pm. Others described running out the door without their shoes, or with few belongings, as the alarm system advised them to "avoid the fourth floor". Students were put up in the nearby Refectory with pizza and movies until about midnight, when most were allowed back in, save for those on the fourth floor. But late on Wednesday morning students were evacuated again and more emergency crews with hazmat gear descended on the campus. By 8pm mostly police remained on scene. Third-year law student Mudit Bhandari said he thought the initial evacuation was a hoax at first. The next morning when he returned to the lodge after class about 11.30am he found even more police and fire trucks outside. "They wouldn't let us back in, it was all a big quarantine zone," he said. While level three and four of Cooper Lodge, as well as commercial buildings nearby, were evacuated again on Wednesday afternoon, by the evening a university spokeswoman confirmed just parts of the fourth floor remained cordoned off. A small number of affected students had been relocated to different rooms for the night, she said. Melodie van Wyk said she and her friends had remained inside the lodge during the evacuation as they were worried if they left they would be locked out. "We're kind of trapped here until they tell us what's happening, we need to study," she said. Mr Bhandari said the university had been looking after students well as they waited it out. “They’ve said they’ll give us extensions on work and there’s free food and counselling, there's support," he said. The university's student representative council postponed its Halloween event on Wednesday night due to the partial closure of Cooper Lodge. Third year student Harrison Thiele, who lives on campus nearby, said fire alarms had often gone off in Cooper Lodge but he hadn't heard of anything like Tuesday night's incident before. "My friend was on the first floor, he didn't even have time to get his shoes on." Students travelled to neighbouring halls or pulled out sleeping bags in the Refectory to wait out the initial evening evacuation, he said. Do you know more? Email us at online@canberratimes.com.au

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