COLOMBO: An intruding monkey at a Sri Lankan electrical grid sub-station caused a general islandwide blackout on Sunday (Feb 9), government officials said.
The power outage began around 11.30am local time (2pm Singapore time).
“A monkey has come in contact with our grid transformer causing an imbalance in the system,” Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody told reporters.
The intrusion took place in a south Colombo suburb, he said.
Power was fully restored across the country at about 6pm local time, according to a reporter from Sri Lankan news outlet Daily Mirror. The outage had also earlier caused water supply disruptions.
Sri Lankans had to endure months of electricity blackouts in the summer of 2022 when the country plunged into an economic crisis.
Fuel stations ran out of petrol and diesel, forcing thermal power stations to ration electricity to 13 hours each day.
