Outage in Ecuador leaves millions in dark after transmission line fails

A failure in an energy transmission line on Wednesday produced an unexpected blackout throughout Ecuador, the government said, days after announcing that there would be power outages in the country due to production problems.

Ecuador's Minister of Energy Roberto Luque said in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the failure was reported by the country's National Electricity Operator and caused "a cascade disconnection", leaving the nation without energy service.

He added that efforts are being made to solve the problem and repair faulty power lines as soon as possible.

In some sectors of the country the outage lasted 20 minutes, but media outlets and social media users reported that the problem continued in most cities.

Emilia Cevallos, a waitress in a restaurant north of the capital, Quito, said the blackout was surprising.

"We thought it was only in this sector, but when we left we realised that while some stores had connected generators, the majority did not have ...