Ecuador is hit by a nationwide power outage, leaving 17 million people in the dark - Telegraph

Ecuador has been hit by a nationwide power outage of several hours that has left 17 million South American residents without electricity.

It is reported that the outage, which affected hospitals, homes, and a large subway system, was caused by maintenance and transmission problems in the country's electrical system.

"The interruptions we had today were due to the lack of investment in maintenance, new electrical transmission and protection of the electrical transmission infrastructure," said the Minister of Public Infrastructure, Roberto Luque.

Fortunately, power was quickly restored to 95 percent of the country's territory, he writes CNN, the Telegraph reports.

In the capital Quito, two hospitals and a children's medical center reportedly lost power during the outage, but were able to rely on their generators.

"The power went out, but we have our generators," said a doctor from Guayaquil's Luis Vernaza Hospital.

Quito's subway system was also affected by the outage, with the capital's mayor, Pabel Munoz, saying that the outage affected the subway, despite the fact that it was using "an isolated electrical system."

But, according to Luque, this outage could have been avoided if Ecuador had drawn up an investment plan "to protect the infrastructure in both power generation and transmission," following a similar outage in 2004.

Otherwise, Ecuador has been struggling with an energy crisis for years.

President Daniel Noboa in April declared an energy emergency and ordered eight-hour blackouts across the country, due to a drought that affected its production. /Telegraph/