Authorities responded to the 2800 block Egypt Road at Mill Grove Drive in Lower Providence just before 8:30 p.m. Monday night for a report of an auto accident involving a car into a utility pole.

The pole and wires are in the road and police closed Egypt Road between Park Avenue and Pinetown Road while they dealt with the situation.

Many Patch readers reported power outages in the surrounding neighborhoods for both residents and businesses. Visible from the scene, the Gulf gas station at the corner of Park and Egypt, along with the CVS were both without power. Geunardi's was open, running on generators. The entire apartment complexes of Colony Arms and Mill Grove also seemed to be without power.

A representative from PECO told Patch that crews were on the scene and working to secure the area and make it safe for responders and repair crews to work on the problem. 

There were approximately 1,500 customers without power as a result of the accident, PECO said, and while crews were working to switch as many customers as possible to working lines, outages were expected to last several hours.

The pole, wires and equipment needed to be replaced, according to PECO.

Details of the accident and the condition of the driver or any passengers was not immediately known. Witnesses say the driver was trying to pass a vehicle that was turning left into the shopping complex when the driver swerved out of control, off the road, striking the pole.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.