14 November 2008

PALMA DE MAJORCA - A power cut Thursday left more than 500,000 households without electricity on the Balearic Islands of Majorca and Menorca, officials said.

The black-out affected all of Majorca and a part of Menorca. It caused traffic jams, cut fixed phone lines and affected mobile phone connections. Firefighters rescued people who got stuck in lifts.

Hospitals, ports and Palma airport functioned with alternative sources of energy.

The power cut was caused by a double short-circuit at an electricity plant on northern Majorca. The electricity company Gesa Endesa attributed it to stormy weather.

Census figures show just over a million people live in the Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formetera.

Power was re-established on Menorca, and was expected to be back on all of Majorca within a short time.

[dpa /  Expatica]