
Around 48 million people in Argentina and Uruguay were affected by a massive electrical failure at the weekend which caused trains to be halted and with traffic lights to fail. This was a total power failure and not just semi isolated incidents and could have come at a worse time given that people in Argentina were preparing to go to the polls for local elections. The only blessing was that it was on a Sunday which is traditionally a quieter day. Had it been during the working week there would have been chaos.
Although Argentina & Uruguay were the worst affected, parts of Paraguay and Chile were also hit.
What Caused The Blackout?
According to Edesur the electricity supply company responsible, it was a massive failure that occurred in the interconnection system.
📣 Para garantizar la reposición total del servicio seguimos trabajando en la solución de casos puntuales que se desprenden de la falla masiva ocurrida en el sistema de interconexión.
— Edesur Argentina (@OficialEdesur) June 17, 2019
Other sources seem to indicate that it also involved a transmission failing at the Yacycretá hydroelectric dam. What is clear so far is that there is no definite answer and the possibility of a cyber attack hasn’t been completely ruled out.
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