Blackout Hits 20,000 Belgian Families After Cable Strike
(MENAFN) A high-voltage cable strike plunged roughly 20,000 families in Belgium’s East Flanders province into darkness on Thursday, according to local authorities and energy distributor Fluvius, as cited by a public broadcaster.
The blackout hit the municipalities of Zottegem, Herzele, Erpe-Mere and Brakel. It began at about 8.50 am local time (0750GMT), when a high-voltage cable belonging to Elia was hit, knocking out a major distribution substation in Zottegem.
The failure cascaded across the network and disrupted around 400 power distribution substations serving the area, cutting electricity to thousands of households.
Fluvius said crews were working to bring the grid back online but could offer no estimate of when supply would return.
“This outage certainly has a major impact. We are working with all our might to rectify the situation,” the company said.
Emergency services convened a crisis meeting in Zottegem to assess the damage and coordinate assistance, Zottegem Mayor Evelien De Both said.
The outage also crippled AZ Sint-Elisabeth Hospital in Zottegem, where the emergency generator could not power all medical equipment. Every scheduled procedure was canceled, and chief physician Manuel Valcke urged patients to seek treatment at another hospital.
The blackout hit the municipalities of Zottegem, Herzele, Erpe-Mere and Brakel. It began at about 8.50 am local time (0750GMT), when a high-voltage cable belonging to Elia was hit, knocking out a major distribution substation in Zottegem.
The failure cascaded across the network and disrupted around 400 power distribution substations serving the area, cutting electricity to thousands of households.
Fluvius said crews were working to bring the grid back online but could offer no estimate of when supply would return.
“This outage certainly has a major impact. We are working with all our might to rectify the situation,” the company said.
Emergency services convened a crisis meeting in Zottegem to assess the damage and coordinate assistance, Zottegem Mayor Evelien De Both said.
The outage also crippled AZ Sint-Elisabeth Hospital in Zottegem, where the emergency generator could not power all medical equipment. Every scheduled procedure was canceled, and chief physician Manuel Valcke urged patients to seek treatment at another hospital.
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