Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images/File
The flag of Ecuador in Quito on September 30, 2013.
CNN
—
Ecuador was hit by a nationwide power outage on Wednesday, leaving the country’s 17 million people without power.
“The immediate report we received from CENACE (National Energy Control Center) is that there was a fault in the transmission line causing a power outage, so there is no power service at the national level,” the country’s Minister of Public Infrastructure said. Roberto Luc wrote on X.
He added: “We are focusing all our efforts on resolving the problem as quickly as possible.” The Ecuadorian government is expected to hold a press conference later on Wednesday to address the matter.
The power outage affected hospitals, homes and the country’s main subway system as the government scrambled to find a response.
Ecuador has been suffering from an energy crisis for years. Most recently, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared an energy emergency in April and ordered a nationwide power outage for eight hours amid a drought that affected power generation.
In the capital, Quito, a CNN team saw two hospitals, including a children’s medical center, lose power during the blackout. The two hospitals were able to rely on electricity from their generators shortly after the outage began.
In Guayaquil, the country’s largest city, a brief power outage affected two other hospitals. “The power is out but we have our own power [generators]said a doctor from Luis Vernaza Hospital in Guayaquil. CNN reached out to the country’s Ministry of Health to ask if there are hospitals currently without electricity.
Guayaquil residents have to deal with power outages amid heat reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit. “It’s unbearable, it’s very hot and humid, and we can’t use the air conditioning or a respirator,” one resident told CNN.
The citizen added: “And on top of that, the water is not working.”
Service was interrupted in Quito’s subway system due to a power outage, with Quito Mayor Papel Muñoz saying the outage was “so significant” that it affected the subway despite it using an “isolated (electrical) system.”
“I have ordered the activation of all intervention teams in the municipality of Quito so that they join in facilitating movement, preventing accidents at major intersections and taking care of public places,” Muñoz said on Channel X.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
