Venezuela's most populated areas suffer another major blackout

[naaman fletcher]

Merco Press Agency: Blackouts blamed on forest fires left without power whole areas of north and central Venezuela, including Caracas, officials said. The power outages began last Thursday due to the collapse of electrical lines located 250 kilometres west of Caracas, Electricity Minister Ali Rodriguez said.

The minister said power was gradually restored and that an hour and a half after the blackout technicians only needed to "recover 25 megawatts of the more than 5,000 (megawatts of capacity affected) by the interruption."

According to government figures, current demand in Venezuela averages 16,650 MW out of a total capacity of 17,922MW.

The blackout may have been caused by a forest fire and "it is likely" the blaze was set intentionally, Rodriguez told state-run VTV television, although he admitted it was not a categorical statement.

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