Cuba's national electricity grid was disrupted on Friday after one of the main power plants on the island stopped working, leaving the entire country without electricity, the Cuban energy ministry said.
Earlier on Friday, the communist-led government closed schools and small industrial facilities and sent most civil servants home. But the Antonio Guiteras power plant, the country's largest and most efficient, stopped working shortly before noon, causing a complete grid failure and leaving about 10 million people without electricity, Reuters reports.
"There will be no rest until the electricity is restored," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote in "X."
Meanwhile, officials have been forced to cancel all government services that are not vital to the country. Schools at all levels, including universities, remain closed until Sunday. Recreational and cultural centers, as well as night clubs, are closed.
The government announced that only key employees of the state's food and health industries should report to work on Friday.
El sistema electrónico de Cuba collapsed and since yesterday more than half of the island is without light.
— América Rangel (@AmerangelLorenz) October 18, 2024
La magia del socialismo. pic.twitter.com/D4fxLygTuD