At least 1.5 million Puerto Rico residents are without power on as of Wednesday afternoon following a huge blackout, according to reports.
Authority of Electric Energy, the firm that provides power to the island, is carrying out an investigation to determine what happened.
A fire at the facility in Aguirre has been linked to the blackout, PIX11 reported. Two transmission lines have been damaged.
The Associated Press reported that heavy storms are affecting the area where the plant is located.
Controlado el fuego en Central Aguirre. pic.twitter.com/IXlGokMkQP
— AEMEAD (@AEMEAD1) September 21, 2016
JUST IN: Massive blackout strikes large portions of Puerto Rico, leaving San Juan and other areas in the dark https://t.co/wAEAq92lCY pic.twitter.com/1Lfv8ktxTK
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) September 21, 2016
BREAKING: Fire causes total blackout in Puerto Rico; millions without power https://t.co/81j8qQmH5i pic.twitter.com/4JZ1PwYRQf
— BNO News (@BNONews) September 21, 2016
The outage has snarled traffic as people are leaving home from work. The plant didn’t offer a timetable on when power could be restored.
AEMEAD, Puerto Rico’s emergency and disaster administration in, said the fire has been brought under control, PIX11 reported.
According to AP, the outage has affected “almost all” of the U.S. territory.
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which is located in the Caribbean Sea, has nearly 3.5 million residents.
