Spain, Portugal hit by huge power outage

A power cut has hit Spain and Portugal, causing traffic chaos and leaving thousands of people without electricity.

Luis Montenegro, the prime minister of Portugal, says there is “no indication” that a cyberattack caused the power outage.

Spain's government was scrambling to identify the origin of the huge outage, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez going to the headquarters of the state electricity network operator to be briefed.

The operator, Red Electrica, said it would likely take six to 10 hours to restore power in the country and urged people not to speculate as to the cause of the outage.

The outage has led to significant disruptions, affecting traffic lights, halting transport networks and leaving hospitals without electricity.

Images posted on social media showed metro stations plunged into darkness, with trains halted, and people in offices and hallways using the light on their phones to see.

Journalists in Madrid and Barcelona saw  people coming out into the streets, holding their smartphones up to try to connect to a network.

People were also trapped in lifts, Spanish media reported.

Source: Agencies