In brief
A nationwide power cut in Sri Lanka has caused critical facilities like hospitals to rely on generators. Energy Minister attributes the outage to a monkey mishap at a sub-station, as the government works to restore power.
Sri Lanka is currently grappling with a significant power outage that has left many buildings, including hospitals, relying on generators for electricity. The outage started around 11:30 local time (06:00 GMT) and is still being worked on by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). According to Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody, the blackouts were triggered by an incident involving a monkey that made contact with a grid transformer, resulting in an imbalance in the electrical system. He assured the public that engineers are on-site working diligently to rectify the situation and restore power across the nation.The CEB has confirmed their commitment to resolving the island-wide blackout as swiftly as possible. With Sri Lanka’s population of 22 million feeling the impacts, many hospitals and businesses have reverted to using inverters or generators to keep operations running. This isn’t the first time the nation has faced such challenges; widespread blackouts were a common issue during the economic crisis of 2022, highlighting ongoing difficulties in the region.
