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A nationwide blackout in Sri Lanka has been blamed on a monkey that intruded into a power station south of Colombo.<\/p>\n
Power is gradually being restored across the island nation of 22 million people, with medical facilities and water purification plants being given priority.<\/p>\n
“A monkey has come in contact with our grid transformer, causing an imbalance in the system,” Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody told reporters. <\/p>\n
The blackout started at about 11:00 local time (05:30 GMT) on Sunday, forcing many to rely on generators. Officials said it may take a few hours to get power back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
On social media, people criticised the authorities while making fun of the incident.<\/p>\n
“A rogue monkey knocked out Sri Lanka’s entire power grid after triggering a total failure at a substation in Colombo,” X user Mario Nawfal wrote. <\/p>\n
“One monkey = total chaos. Time to rethink infrastructure?” he added.<\/p>\n
Another X user, Sreeni R, posted an illustration of the monkey god Hanuman, who according to the Hindu epic Ramayana, set Sri Lanka on fire during a war with the demon king Ravana who ruled the country.<\/p>\n
“Sri Lanka tasted monkey business in the past,” he wrote. <\/p>\n
“Only in Sri Lanka can a group of monkeys fighting inside a power station cause an islandwide power outage,” wrote Jamila Husain, editor-in-chief of local newspaper Daily Mirror. <\/p>\n
In a report published on Monday, the newspaper said engineers have been warning consecutive governments “for years” to upgrade its power grid or face frequent blackouts. <\/p>\n
“The national power grid is in such a weakened state that frequent islandwide power outages maybe expected if there is a disturbance even in one of our lines,” it quoted an unnamed senior engineer saying.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka experienced widespread blackouts<\/a> during its economic crisis in 2022. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n