UK’s Shetland Cut Off From World After 2 Undersea Cables Damaged in ‘Very Rare’ Incident

UK’s Shetland Cut Off From World After 2 Undersea Cables Damaged in ‘Very Rare’ Incident
A fishing boat sits moored in the harbour in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, on Feb. 4, 2017. Andy Buchanan /AFP via Getty Images
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Thousands of residents on Britain’s Shetland Islands are without phone and internet services after two undersea telecommunications cables were damaged just days apart, a situation that has been described as “very rare.”

Residents on the remote Scottish archipelago have not been able to access telecommunication services since the early hours of Oct. 20 due to the break in the cable connecting the islands to mainland Scotland, some 130 miles to the south.