A power outage in 14 of Chile’s 16 regions due to a transmission line failure in the north has brought life to a standstill.
The Chilean government declared a state of emergency, imposed a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time and deployed armed forces to the affected areas to ensure security.
Chile’s National Electricity Coordinator (CEN) announced that a quarter of the outage lines have been restored and that electricity is expected to be restored within the day.
“Because it is unacceptable for one or a few companies to affect the daily lives of millions of Chileans and for this reason the state must hold them accountable,” said Chilean President Gabriel Boric.
Work in mines in Chile, the world’s largest copper producer, has partially stopped due to a power outage, affecting global markets negatively.