The Chilean government imposed a ban on traffic and declared an emergency in response to a sweeping blackout that cut electricity to most of the country, including the capital, Santiago, on Tuesday.
The massive interruption, which began in the afternoon, affected eight million households across the country, from the northern port city of Arica to Los Lagos in the south of the country, officials said. In Santiago, he hit the traffic lights, broke the lifts and closed the subway network.
A few hours later, the government announced a ban on traffic from 10 pm to 6 in the morning in areas affected by interruption. Schools in these areas will close on Wednesday, with about 300,000 hitting hitting, officials said.
“Today was a difficult day for millions of compatriots,” said Gabriel Boric, the president, at a press conference on Tuesday night.
Until Tuesday, power had been restored to about four million households, Mr Boric said. But he warned that the recovery was slow and unstable and the situation remained precarious.
He accused the country’s electricity companies to allow the interruption to be stopped and not to restore power earlier, adding: “This is outrageous.” The interruption was caused by the failure of a transmission system, officials said.
Soldiers and national police officers were sent to affected areas, officials also told Santiago, helicopters rotating over the city.
Emergency services, hospitals, prisons and airports across the country operated in electricity systems and backup power generators, the National Disaster Service said.
John Bartlett They contributed reports.
