L
LequteMan
Guest
A power outage hit Venezuela yesterday, leaving 70% of the country in darkness, including its capital city Caracas.
The blackout disabled traffic lights in the city, causing traffic chaos. It also partially disrupted the underground transport system.
Thousands of workers were sent home.
President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday night that 14 of 23 states lost power for much of the day. He said service was “progressively restored” with some exceptions, including the oil-producing state of Zulia.
Power that was lost at midday was restored in Caracas by nightfall.
Venezuela’s oil refineries, which are powered by separate generator plants, were not affected.
"It's going to take several hours to restart the generation plants so we can restore national service," Franco Silva, vice minister of electricity development, told state television.
President Nicolas Maduro said he had ordered the armed forces to help ensure security while power was restored. He said his political opponents may have been behind the blackout