In a bizarre and unexpected turn of events, Sri Lanka was thrown into a nationwide blackout on Sunday after a rogue monkey infiltrated an electrical substation and disrupted the power grid, government officials confirmed.
Vanguard Newspaper, in a post on its official X handle, reported that the island-wide outage began around 11:30 a.m. (0600 GMT) and remained unresolved for over three hours.
Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody addressed the situation, revealing that the monkey had come into contact with a grid transformer, triggering a system imbalance that led to the massive power failure.
“The intrusion took place in a southern suburb of Colombo, and while engineers have managed to restore power in some areas, the full extent of the damage is still being assessed,” Jayakody stated.
While authorities scrambled to restore electricity, citizens were left in frustration, recalling the harrowing months of 2022 when Sri Lanka endured prolonged power cuts due to a crippling economic crisis. At the time, fuel shortages forced the country’s thermal power stations to ration electricity, leaving millions in darkness for up to 13 hours a day.
Sunday’s blackout reignited concerns over the stability of Sri Lanka’s power infrastructure, with experts calling for urgent upgrades to prevent future disruptions—whether from technical failures or, as in this case, wildlife interference.
As engineers work tirelessly to bring the grid back online, the nation waits anxiously, hoping that its next power outage won’t be caused by another unexpected visitor from the wild.
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