Society

Massive blackout hits Macao

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-02-24 13:19

MACAO - A massive blackout hit parts of Macao on Thursday, leaving thousands of people in the city without power for a while.

The power outage occurred at 11:08 am and almost all facilities in the Zape district, a reclaimed land on the Macao Peninsula, was without power, Macao's power supplier CEM confirmed shortly after the blackout.

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Meanwhile, some streets in the north part of Macao were also hit by blackout for seconds. Local TV channel TDM said it had to use backup electricity to maintain live broadcasting during the blackout.

CEM said the blackouts were caused by a mechanical failure in a transformer of energy substation in the Zape district. After taking emergency measures, CEM resumed electricity supply in those districts at 11:22 am.

The reason of mechanical failure of energy substation was still under investigation, CEM said.

Massive blackout rarely happens in Macao and the latest incident of this kind happened in March 2009, leaving about 20,000 residents without power for nearly an hour.