Argentina investigates mass power outage

The power was back on for most of Argentina Sunday evening after a massive outage that spilled into Uruguay and Paraguay left tens of millions of people in the dark. Power went out at about 7 a.m. on Sunday morning, halting public transportation in Buenos Aires and impeding the water supply, phone communication, and internet connections. The failure in Argentina’s system also cut power across all of Uruguay for hours, according to the country’s energy company UTE. The outage also extended to the south in communities in Paraguay.

Argentinean Energy Secretary Gustavo Lopetegui said the blackout started from a failure in the country’s “interconnection system,” but authorities are still unsure of the cause. Energy officials said the investigation could take up to two weeks.

“This is an extraordinary event that should have never happened,” Lopetegui said.