A massive blackout in Chile caused by a disruption in a high-voltage transmission line left over 7 million residents without power. The government declared a state of emergency and implemented a nighttime curfew to manage the situation. Essential services like internet and water were severely affected, with emergency generators keeping hospitals operational. As the outage unfolded, Interior Minister Carolina Toha emphasized public safety while the actual cause of the blackout remained unclear. The widespread outage paralyzed daily life, leading to canceled events and significant economic losses for businesses.
"Our first concern, and the reason for this announcement, is to ensure people's safety," she said, announcing that the government was sending security forces to the dark streets to control traffic and rein in chaos.
Around 10 p.m., more than five hours after the outage began, at least 7 million people still had no electricity, and none of the 14 affected regions had completely recovered power.
All over the nation of 19 million, traffic lights went dark, soccer matches were called off, classes were canceled and cultural events postponed.
The National Electrical Coordinator, Chile's grid operator, said a disruption had occurred in a high-voltage backbone transmission line that carries power from the Atacama Desert of northern Chile to the capital of Santiago.
Collection
[
|
...
]