Police evict tennis fans and match suspended as ‘national emergency’ declared and stadium plunged into darkness

POLICE evicted tennis fans from a tournament as the government declared a national emergency.

Play was taking place on Tuesday night at the Chile Open in Santiago.

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Play was suspended at the Chile Open due to a massive power outage in the country[/caption]

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Fans were evicted by the police when the 10pm curfew kicked in[/caption]

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The stadium was plunged into darkness when the lights went out[/caption]

But disaster struck when the country suffered its worst power outage since 2010.

Officials stated approximately eight million homes and 14 of Chile’s 16 regions were impacted.

And that included the ATP 250 tournament in the capital.

The tennis event was able to carry on thanks to its own generators to provide electricity and light.

Two of the three scheduled matches on the main showcourt got completed.

However, the government imposed a 10pm until 6am curfew – with reports that there were even police on site to enforce the strict cut-off time.

So play had to be suspended at the end of the first set of Federico Coria’s clash with Tomas Barrios Vera while Francisco Comesana vs Felipe Meligeni Alves on Court 2 was also halted.

Coria dashed down the tunnel as the umpire confirmed over the tannoy that the tennis had to stop.

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And video footage from the centre court showed the spectators being forced out of the stands.

As they were doing so, though, the lights from the generator’s power went out – plunging the stadium and fans in total darkness.

The Chile Open said in a statement: “As a tournament, we are aware of the emergency that is developing in the country and the state of constitutional exception decreed by the government that will begin to take effect at 10pm.

“By instruction of the authorities, we suspended the match and evacuated the venue under strict security measures.”

Play is expected to resume at 2pm local time on Wednesday.