Ecuador: A top government minister reported that a countrywide blackout struck Ecuador on Wednesday, leaving almost 18 million people without power for several hours.
At approximately 2:00 PM local time on Wednesday, the traffic lights in Quito, the capital, ceased functioning and the metro system stopped completely.
Roberto Luque, the minister of public works, attributed the power outage to underfunding of electrical systems not long after electricity was restored.
Due to a drought in April, the government was compelled to declare several scheduled blackouts that left large cities without power for extended periods.
The incident on Wednesday was deemed “major” by Quito Mayor Pabel Muñoz, who added that “it even knocked out power to the metro, which has its own separate system.”
“A general failure of the national interconnected electrical energy system” was the reason given by the Quito metro for the service interruptions.
Residents were upset by the outage. Certain communities had their access to drinking water suspended, according to local media, and several locals expressed annoyance at not being informed beforehand.
Additionally, night sessions were discontinued nationwide and conducted virtually, according to the ministry of education.
Luque declared a few hours after the blackout that 95 percent of the nation’s electricity was back up. Numerous drivers experienced hazardous driving conditions due to the outage on Wednesday, as traffic lights stopped functioning. The subway system in Quito also experienced many hours of disruptions in operation.
Heavy rains over the weekend compelled authorities to shut down three hydroelectric plants, despite the South American nation having struggled with a drought that has affected the output of hydroelectricity, as per the report.
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