LUSAKA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Zambians were left without power Sunday night due to a technical fault in the country's power distribution system, government officials said Monday.
Peter Mumba, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy, said the blackout occurred at around 8:15 p.m., local time, leading to a loss of power supply that affected the whole country.
He told reporters during a press briefing that Zimbabwe, interconnected with Zambia for power transmission, was also affected by the breakdown.
Mumba said Zesco Limited, the national power utility, responded promptly to resolve the unplanned power outage. According to him, the outage led to miners being temporarily trapped at two mines but they were all safely rescued with an alternative power supply provided to the mines.
Justin Loongo, acting managing director of Zesco Limited, said power was restored to all mining firms by Monday at 3:30 a.m. and the rest of the country by 6 a.m.
Thabo Kawana, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Media, said technical teams were currently investigating the cause of the outage and working to prevent similar incidents in the future.
He clarified in a statement that no deaths or critical incidents occurred due to the power outage, refuting social media reports that the University Teaching Hospital, the country's biggest referral hospital located in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, recorded some deaths during the blackout period.
According to him, emergency generators at the hospital were immediately activated, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to life support systems and other essential medical equipment. ■
