TWO power cuts which occurred in Malaga due to technical problems at power stations left 40,000 people in the city without electricity for more than an hour-and-a-half on Tuesday.
The first one happened at 11am, due to a problem at the Montes power station and affected 15,000 people in the centre and east of the city.
Traffic lights went out, lifts were stuck and offices remained in the dark. Local Police had to direct traffic in busy areas until 25 minutes later when the problem was fixed and power restored.
However, alternative routes used to reinstate the power caused a second problem at 11:30am at the station in Calle Don Rodrigo in Malaga centre. Circuits overheated and although there was no fire, there was abundant smoke.
The fire department was called in to deal with the problem while police directed traffic in the north area of Malaga, and a further 20,000 people were without power for 30 minutes.
Streets had to be closed and firefighters had to rescue people who had been trapped in lifts. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
Local hospitals were also affected by the power cuts although their emergency back-up supplies worked perfectly and there were no problems in critical care areas.
This, however, was not the case at many local health centres, Malaga Town Hall, several schools, university faculties and, worst affected, offices in the Plaza de la Merced area, where power was not restored until 12:35. |
