Major blackout in Chile leaves millions without power

MEXICO CITY - A massive blackout hit Chile on Tuesday, leaving 19 million people without power, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.

Interior Minister Carolina Toha called for calm, saying the outage was not due to an attack but a disconnection in the transmission system in the Norte Chico region.

"I call for calm, to understand that it is a failure in the system, that we are not the object of an attack, that the service should be restored promptly," she said.

Through social media, Executive Director of the National Electricity Coordinator Ernesto Huber, confirmed the source of the blackout as a fault in the power grid at Norte Chico and said that efforts are underway to restore power.

"The disconnection of the 500 kV double circuit in the Norte Chico area, specifically between the Vallenar and Coquimbo power stations, caused a disturbance in the national electrical system, from Arica to the Los Lagos region, resulting in the complete loss of power in the national electrical system," he said.

The outage occurred amid a heatwave in Chile, and in small towns such as Lo Barnechea, Talagante and La Florida, authorities promptly established supplies of drinking water.

After the blackout hit, subway services were promptly evacuated. Traffic lights were knocked out, causing traffic jams in the country's largest cities, while a fleet of electric buses was deployed to assist with inner-city mobility. - BERNAMA