Chile faced a nationwide blackout on February 25, affecting regions from the north to the south. The outage prompted evacuations in Santiago’s metro system and created severe traffic disruptions. Authorities attribute the incident to a system failure rather than sabotage. The situation requires emergency protocols to support hospitals and essential services during the outage.
On February 25, Chile experienced a significant power outage that impacted the entire country, causing chaos especially in the capital, Santiago. The blackout started at 3:16 PM, affecting regions from Arica in the north to Los Lagos in the south, as reported by the SENAPRED disaster response agency. This outage prompted the evacuation of the Santiago metro system and led to severe traffic disruptions.
Authorities dismissed the possibility of sabotage, indicating that a system failure was the likely cause of the electricity loss during the summer months. The government confirmed that there were no emergent situations reported immediately following the incident. The outage has not occurred at this scale in approximately 15 years, given Chile’s robust power infrastructure.
In Santiago, with a population of around seven million, hundreds were evacuated from the metro system, which serves 2.3 million passengers daily. “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,” said Maria Angelica Roman, a worker in the city.
The metro authority announced that teams were deployed across stations to facilitate safe evacuations. Following these evacuations, the metro stations will remain closed until the power is restored, as stated in their announcement.
The Interior Minister, Carolina Toha, explained that there was “no reason to assume that this is an attack,” suggesting instead that the cause likely stemmed from operational faults within the system. Furthermore, the Minister assured that the grid would be operational again within hours. Emergency generators supported vital services such as hospitals and prisons during the outage.
Traffic congestions were rampant, with police directing vehicles on normally busy streets to manage the chaos. Anadriel Hernandez, a student from Valparaiso, remarked on the unusual traffic issues resulting from the blackout that broadened beyond Santiago. Overall, businesses faced closures and widespread disruption, showcasing the significant impact of the blackout.
The large-scale blackout affecting Chile on February 25 resulted from a system failure, leading to the evacuation of the Santiago metro and major traffic issues nationwide. The government confirmed that no emergency situations arose following the incident, with transportation services temporarily disrupted. Authorities are working to restore power swiftly while ensuring the safety of citizens during the recovery process.
Original Source: www.lemonde.fr
