A nationwide blackout in Sri Lanka has been blamed on a monkey that intruded into a power station south of Colombo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Power is gradually being restored across the island nation of 22 million people, with medical facilities and water purification plants being given priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A monkey has come in contact with our grid transformer, causing an imbalance in the system,” Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The blackout started at about 11:00 local time (05:30 GMT) Sunday, forcing many to rely on generators. Officials say it may take a few hours to get power back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On social media, people criticised the authorities while making fun of the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A rogue monkey knocked out Sri Lanka’s entire power grid after triggering a total failure at a substation in Colombo,” X user Mario Nawfal wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“One monkey = total chaos. Time to rethink infrastructure?” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another X user, Sreeni R, posted an illustration of Hanuman, a Hindu god with the face of a monkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Sri Lanka tasted monkey business in the past,” he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Only in Sri Lanka can a group of monkeys fighting inside a power station cause an islandwide power outage,” wrote Jamila Husain, editor-in-chief of local newspaper Daily Mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a report published on Monday, the newspaper said engineers have been warning consecutive governments “for years” to upgrade its power grid or face frequent blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The national power grid is in such a weakened state that frequent islandwide power outages maybe expected if there is a disturbance even in one of our lines,” it quoted an unnamed senior engineer saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n