Sri Lanka hit by Nationwide Power Cut

Sri Lanka has been beaten by an energy cut nationwide, with buildings that include hospitals that have to trust generators to supply electricity.

The interruption, which began around 11:30 local time (06:00 GMT), has not yet been completely solved.

The Electricity Board of Ceylon (CEB) said that the power cut had been caused by an emergency in a substation and that it was working to restore the supply.

According to reports, Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody blamed a monkey for causing the interruption, saying that the animal came into “contact with our network transformer causing an imbalance in the system,” according to the AFP news agency.