Colombo, 17 October

Sri Lanka suffered an islandwide power outage from around noon on Saturday, with the blackout continuing for more than three hours, power officials said.

Water supplies, internet services and mobile connectivity were affected as authorities worked to restore electricity across the island in stages.

The outage disrupted essential services, with the water supply agency warning people against wasting water as the power cuts could affect supplies.

The cause of the islandwide outage was not immediately clear, although the government said a failure at a hydropower station in the central hill country, detected a day earlier, could have contributed to it.

“Due to a sudden system failure, the whole island suffered an electricity breakdown,” Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Anura Karunatilaka said.

He urged owners of rooftop solar panels to remain disconnected from the grid until the power system was balanced and restored, according to the state power entity.

The minister said the failure at one of the hydropower stations in the central hill country, which was detected on Friday, could be a reason for the outage.