Blackout hits four Central Asian countries at once
Power outages struck Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan simultaneously on the afternoon of August 14.
Simultaneous power outages struck Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan on August 14 afternoon. In Bishkek, several districts reported blackouts around 3 p.m. local time, according to Kaktus.media. Kyrgyzstan's Energy Ministry acknowledged the issue but was yet to determine its cause. Power disruptions spread to four districts in Almaty and 10 districts in the surrounding Almaty region, reported Tengrinews.
Local officials blamed the outage on an incident involving overhead power lines. Witnesses stated the Almaty metro ceased operation, traffic lights darkened, and mobile phone services were impaired. The water supply was also compromised, with pumping stations reportedly losing power. Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry announced at 3:40 PM Moscow time, roughly an hour after the blackout, that power restoration efforts were underway.
In Dushanbe and other Tajik cities and districts, residents also experienced power outages, reported Asia-Plus. The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources could not yet pinpoint the cause but ruled out an accident at the Nurek Hydropower Plant, Tajikistan's largest power station. Power outages also affected several regions in Uzbekistan, including Surkhandarya in the south.
Uzbekistan's Energy Ministry attributed the problems to "an accident in the power grid of a neighboring country."
Written by urgent.news from Meduza (English)'s reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
