Capitol building reopened after alarm sounded

Darkness sets in over the U.S. Capitol building hours before U.S. President Barack Obama is set to deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington January 24, 2012. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Capitol building was reopened after an evacuation earlier on Tuesday when an audible alarm was sounded, U.S. Capitol Police said. However, the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, an underground complex on the Capitol grounds, was still evacuated as the cause of the alarm had not yet been determined, a Capitol Police spokeswoman said. No other details were immediately available on the cause for the alarm, although law enforcement and fire department officials were checking on the possibility of a fire, officials said. (Reporting By Richard Cowan; Editing by Bill Trott and Susan Heavey)