A 16-inch diameter gas transmission line ruptured during routine maintenance at midnight Wednesday, leaving nine of Las Vegas' biggest hotel-casinos without hot water and gas for cooking until late Thursday.

While Southwest Gas Corp. has had line breaks in the past, spokeswoman Robyn Clayton could not remember any that caused this much disruption.

"There really wasn't any dangers to others" as a result of the line break, she said.

The accident, however, caused Southwest Gas temporarily to stop sending gas to Excalibur, Luxor, Bellagio, MGM Mirage, Wynn Las Vegas, Paris, The Venetian, Aladdin and Mandalay Bay.

Service was gradually being restored to the hotels Thursday.

While crews were working on the line, traffic was blocked on Tropicana Avenue between Interstate 15 and Las Vegas Boulevard for five hours starting at 3:30 a.m. Thursday. As a precaution, people were told to evacuate the parking lot at New York-New York for a while, she said.

The gas leak happened as a crew was doing routine maintenance on the gas line 12 feet under the surface Wednesday, she said.

Southwest Gas cut the pressure, leaving hotel guests without hot water for showers and restaurant kitchens without gas for cooking, Clayton said. Restaurants could continue serving cold sandwiches but many closed.

"The hotels have been really great to work with," Clayton said. She had no estimate of how much the line break cost Southwest Gas. She said the casino-hotels could ask Southwest Gas to compensate them for the inconvenience to guests and workers.

"It was like a snow day," said MGM Mirage spokesman Gordon Absher. "There were slight inconveniences to staff and guests, but they were met with good-natured understanding."