STORY: Cuba’s national electrical grid collapsed late on Friday, leading to widespread blackouts across the Caribbean island nation –
including the capital, Havana.
Energy ministry officials said an electrical substation in Havana failed around 8:15 p.m.
Reuters footage showed the lights were out across all of Havana’s skyline —
and reports on social media suggested much of the country of 10 million people was without power.
The grid failure follows a string of nationwide blackouts late last year –
which plunged Cuba’s frail and antiquated power generation system into near-total disarray.
Hours-long rolling blackouts have been the norm for months.
Coupled with severe shortages of food, medicine and water have made life increasingly unbearable for many Cubans –
who in recent years have fled the island in record-breaking numbers.
