Czech Republic hit by massive power blackout

By Ilayda Cakirtekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - Prague and northern regions of the Czech Republic were hit by a massive power outage on Friday, public broadcaster Radio Prague reported.

A widespread power outage hit large parts of the capital and the northern regions after a failure at a substation.

CEPS, the national grid operator, said the outage was triggered by a fallen phase conductor that disrupted eight substations, five of which were quickly restored.

Public transport across much of Prague was reportedly brought to a standstill, while numerous shops and ATMs went offline.

Energy analysts also noted an abrupt 30% fall in the grid load.

"We are facing an extraordinary and unpleasant situation, and everyone is working intensively to restore electricity supplies. That is the priority now," Petr Fiala, the prime minister, wrote on X.

While power has been gradually restored, the national cybersecurity agency NUKIB has ruled out the possibility of a cyberattack.

"The current massive power outage in the Czech Republic, according to available information, should not have been caused by a cyberattack," the agency wrote on X.