Power blackout hits most parts of Sudan

The electricity supply was cut off in most parts of Sudan at 9:00 p.m. local time (1800 GMT) Monday.

Activists through social media circulated information about a huge fire at electricity transformers in Merowe dam, some 380 km north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

However, Sudan's Minister of Electricity Mutaz Mussa denied the fire was the cause of the blackout.

"There is a total power blackout in most parts of Sudan due to a technical fault," Mussa told Xinhua.

The minister declined to give any explanation about the complete power cutoff, but said "a statement would be issued to explain the facts about what happened."

The electricity power cutoff has been frequent in the Sudanese capital Khartoum during the past days, but it is the first time it occurred in most parts of the country. Enditem