Chile’s worst blackout in well over a decade struck on Tuesday afternoon, leaving millions without power.
President Gabriel Boric blamed private companies that manage the grid for the system’s failure.
“This is outrageous! The daily life of millions of Chileans can’t be impacted like this by companies that don’t do their job,” Boric said in a statement issued by his office.
Early Wednesday, “90 percent of (electricity) consumption was restored” to homes, the power system’s operator said in a statement.
According to the Senapred disaster response agency, the outage affected an area stretching all the way from Arica in the long, narrow South American country’s north to Los Lagos in the south — an area home to over 90 percent of Chile’s 20 million people.
The blackout disrupted transport in the capital Santiago, where thousands were evacuated from the metro and people jostled to board overflowing buses.
President Boric had activated “a state of emergency due to a catastrophe” and announced a curfew until 6 am Wednesday.
Attack ruled out
Interior Minister Carolina Toha ruled out sabotage as the reason for the power loss, which began at 3:16 pm in the middle of the southern hemisphere summer.
