Chile declares state of emergency after sweeping power blackout

Chile has declared a state of emergency and curfew across much of the country, including the capital, Santiago, following a massive blackout possibly caused by an electrical system failure, the Interior Ministry said.

"We are going to have a curfew from 10 at night until six in the morning", Carolina Toha, head of the ministry, told a press conference on Tuesday.

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.

Through social media, Ernesto Huber, executive director of the National Electricity Coordinator, 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 heat wave in Chile, and in small towns such as Lo Barnechea, Talagante and La Florida, authorities promptly established supplies of drinking water.

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Source: TRT