CNN
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A massive blackout hit Chile on Tuesday, affecting 14 of the country’s 16 regions, including the capital Santiago and its surrounding area, the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) said.
Metro service in Santiago was suspended and passengers were evacuated, Transport Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz said. Santiago International Airport said on X that flights are operating regularly thanks to backup systems, but Chile’s LATAM Airlines said some of its flights could be affected.
Authorities have not yet reported any emergency situations as a result of the outage, Senapred said.
One of the transmission lines of the Chilean electrical system was disconnected, causing the massive interruption in “a large part of the country,” Interior Minister Carolina Tohá Morales said in a press conference.
The Disaster Risk Management Committee is holding an emergency meeting to determine the scope of the blackout, added Tohá Morales, who said that she hopes service will be restored in the next few hours.
“We will continue working until the service is restored,” she said.
The National Electrical Coordinator, an autonomous body that oversees the operation of the Chilean electrical system, said it has activated a service recovery plan to restore power as soon as possible.
Tohá Morales said the national gendarmerie force has been instructed to reinforce its presence in the streets to maintain security and support the flow of traffic.
The Chilean government is also evaluating backup power systems in hospital and prison networks, the minister said.
In addition to Santiago, the blackout has also affected the regions of Arica and Parinacota, Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, Araucanía, Valparaíso, O’Higgins, Maule, Biobío, los Lagos, de los Ríos and Ñuble.
The power outage is happening in the middle Chile’s summer, where temperatures in Santiago are around 30 degrees Celsius (around 86 degrees Fahrenheit).
This is a developing story and will be updated.