Welcome, Guest! - Sign-In or Create an Account

Easy to remember! » VinNews.com

Brazil - Tens Of Millions In The Dark After Massive Power Blackout

Published on: November 10, 2009 10:06 PM

News Source: AP

Text Size

Email Post

Print Post

Comments (1)

Save Article

File photo. shows the night lights of Sao Paulo illuminating the citys skyline. Several major Brazilian cities including the two largest, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, have been plunged into darkness, witnesses said, in a blackout initially attributed to problems at a hydroelect

Brazil - A massive power failure threw Brazil’s two largest cities into darkness Tuesday night along with other parts of Latin America’s largest nation, affecting millions of people.

Officials did not immediately comment on the cause of the blackouts, but Brazilian media reports said there were unspecified problems at the huge Itaipu hydroelectric dam that straddles Brazil’s border with Paraguay.

The problems at the dam caused a loss of 17,000 megawatts of power, resulting in outages in large parts of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and other cities in several states, according to the G1 Web site of Globo TV.

The blackouts came three days after CBS’s “60 Minutes” news program reported that several past Brazilian power outages were caused by hackers. Brazilian officials played down the report.

Brazil’s official Agencia Brasil news agency said Tuesday’s outage started about 10:20 p.m. (1220 GMT), snarling streets in Rio after traffic lights stopped working. Subway service was knocked out in both Rio and Sao Paulo.

Utility companies that provide electricity to the two cities did not immediately offer explanations for why the power went off or when it would be restored, Agencia Brasil said.

Sao Paulo is South America’s largest city, with 12 million residents. Rio has 6 million citizens. But the metropolitan area of both cities are much larger.

More of today's headlines

“Jarratt, VA - The mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks that killed 10 in the Washington, D.C., region has been executed. A prison spokesman says John Allen Muhammad...”

Jarratt, VA - D.C.-area Sniper John Allen Muhammad Executed [video documentary] “Aachen, Germany - The murder trial of a former Nazi SS trooper was postponed because the hard-of-hearing defendant was struggling to follow proceedings. Heinrich...”