Sir Lanka’s energy minister confirmed to the press the nation’s power grid was brought down after a monkey came into contact with the grid transformer, resulting in 22 million people being left in temperatures above 86 degrees (30C).
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The nationwide power outage was traced back to a power station located south of the capital, Colombo, and according to energy minister Kumara Jayakody, a monkey interacted with the grid transforming, resulting in an imbalance in the power system and the eventual outage. Sri Lankan media and social media users were very quick to start poking fun at the situation, with some pointing out that even just one monkey can cause total chaos across a nation. On a more serious note, some users pointed out the flimsiness of the grid if it can be brought down by one explorative monkey.
Jamila Husain, editor-in-chief of local newspaper the Daily Mirror, wrote: “Sri Lanka’s national grid is so outdated that even a monkey can cause an island-wide blackout.” How did this happen? According to the Power and Energy Ministry, a group of monkeys made their way into the Pandura Power Station and a fight between the monkey’s broke out. During the brawl one of the monkey’s hit the transmission line, resulting in an immediate imbalance in the power grid and the outage.
However, not everyone is convinced a monkey was soul perpetrator, as a security guard at the station said monkeys jump into the power station quite often, and “this does not seem to have been caused by a monkey.” The security guard also stated he heard “a loud explosion and saw a ball of fire.“
“A monkey came into contact with our grid transformer, causing an imbalance in the power system,” said energy minister Kumara Jayakody to the press when questioned about the outage
Is this monkey a patsy for a larger blunder by energy officials?