Mass blackout paralyzes the country: monkey leaves Sri Lanka without power
The energy crisis in Sri Lanka has reached a new level — a monkey caused a failure at a substation, leaving millions of people without electricity and cooling.
Photo: pixabay.com
On Sunday, February 9, Sri Lanka was hit by a massive blackout caused by an unexpected culprit — a monkey that climbed onto a transformer in an area south of Colombo, as reported by The Guardian.
According to Energy Minister Kumara Jayakodi, the animal short-circuited the system, causing an imbalance in the power grid.
This triggered a cascading power outage across the country, home to 22 million people. Initially, engineers attempted to restore electricity to hospitals and water treatment plants, but in many areas, the outage lasted until nighttime.
The incident sparked a wave of reactions on social media. Users ironically pointed out the vulnerability of the power grid: "One monkey — and the whole country is in chaos." However, experts see this as a warning sign: aging infrastructure remains the main threat to the stability of electricity supply.
Earlier, it was reported that the Ukrainian Foreign Minister warned of the risk of a nuclear incident following Russia’s morning strikes on substations connected to nuclear power plants, urging the international community to take decisive action.
It was also announced that the EU and the US are allocating €106.6 million to DTEK for the restoration of Ukraine's energy system after Russian attacks, strengthening thermal power plant protection, and ensuring heat and electricity for millions of residents.