Armenian capital hit by major power blackout
  • EVENT

  • 17:22 10 July 2019

Armenian capital hit by major power blackout

A major electricity blackout hit Armenia’s capital Yerevan on Wednesday, leaving subway trains stranded in tunnels and the city almost entirely without power for several hours, ONA reports.

Electricity supply has since been partially restored, according to officials.

The subway is now functioning, but reports on social media from residents across a number of districts suggested around a third of the city was still without power.

Restoration works were underway and the electricity supply was expected to be fully restored by 7 p.m. local time (4 p.m. GMT), deputy prime minister Tigran Avinyan wrote on his Facebook page.

The massive outage was caused by supply frequency fluctuations at the Yerevan thermal power plant and one unit of the Hrazdan thermal power plant, a government spokesman said.

The blackout caused disruptions to the capital’s subway, with several trains becoming stuck in the tunnels, Yerevan’s mayor Hakob Karapetyan said.

People were evacuated and the trains had now been retrieved, he wrote on his Facebook page.

Regions outside Yerevan were less affected, and electricity supply outside the capital has now been restored.

Faig Mahmudov

Tags: Armenia world

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