Nationwide Power Outage in Chile Leaves Millions Affected

The disruption, which affected urban transport and essential services, has raised alarm as authorities work swiftly to restore power.

A massive power outage in Chile has left millions of residents in darkness, affecting key cities and operations nationwide. The outage, which began earlier today, has been confirmed by the national disaster prevention service (SENAPRED) as impacting various regions, including the capital city, Santiago. Although the full extent of the blackout remains unclear, it appears to stretch from Arica and Parinacota in the north down to Los Lagos in the south.

Reports indicate that the world's largest copper mine, Escondida, is among the facilities without power. The Santiago Metro operator confirmed via social media that it had halted services due to the outage, leading to the evacuation of several stations. Eyewitness accounts from the city depict commuters struggling to navigate long queues at bus stops, while footage revealed crowded escalators as passengers walked to exits in a darkened metro system.

Maria Angelica Roman, a 45-year-old worker, shared her frustrations, stating, “They let us leave work because of the power cut, but now I don't know how we will get home because all the buses are full.”

Chile’s Interior Minister, Carolina Toha, announced on social media that an urgent meeting would take place to formulate plans for restoring electrical services as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, SENAPRED noted that utility companies are actively investigating the cause of the massive outage and are working diligently to resume normal electrical operations across the affected regions.