A nationwide blackout in Sri Lanka has been attributed to a monkey entering a power station south of Colombo.
Efforts to restore power are underway in the island nation of 22 million, focusing on prioritising medical facilities and water purification plants.
Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody informed reporters that a monkey had interacted with the grid transformer, disrupting the system’s balance.
A blackout occurred around 11:00 local time (05:30 GMT) on Sunday, prompting numerous individuals to depend on generators for power. Authorities have indicated that restoring power could take several hours.
Social media users expressed discontent with the authorities, often using humour to comment on the incident.
“A rogue monkey caused a complete blackout in Sri Lanka by triggering a total failure at a substation in Colombo,” reported X user Mario Nawfal.
One monkey leads to complete disorder. “Is it time to reconsider our approach to infrastructure?” he remarked.
In a recent post, X user Sreeni R shared an illustration depicting the monkey god Hanuman. This figure, rooted in the Hindu epic Ramayana, is known for setting Sri Lanka ablaze during a conflict with the demon king Ravana, who reigned over the island nation.
“Sri Lanka has experienced its share of unconventional antics in the past,” he wrote.
“A group of monkeys engaged in a brawl within a power station has led to an islandwide power outage in Sri Lanka,” reported Jamila Husain, editor-in-chief of the Daily Mirror.
A report released on Monday highlights that engineers have been alerting successive governments for years about the urgent need to upgrade the power grid to avoid frequent blackouts.
“The national power grid is currently in a weakened condition, leading to the possibility of frequent islandwide power outages should there be any disturbances in even a single line,” an unnamed senior engineer stated.
In 2022, Sri Lanka faced extensive power outages amid its ongoing economic crisis.
