Power failure hits Olympic building work

A power failure hit Athens and other parts of Greece today, cutting off air conditioning as temperatures pushed past 40 degrees Celsius (104F) and blacking out most Olympic venues as crews raced to finish work before the start of the games.

The blackout hit more than 75% of greater Athens shortly before 1 pm (11am Irish time), stranding rail commuters in the city that is home to nearly five million people, police said.

The failure appeared to have then quickly spread to areas outside Athens, and blackouts were reported as far away as Lamia, about 90 miles north of Athens, and in parts of the southern Peloponnesus region.

Although power gradually started to return after about 20 minutes, officials estimated it could take hours to fully restore electricity to nearly one third of the country.

The electrical grid collapse raised questions about Athens’ ability to handle increased power demands during the August 13-29 Games.

Greece’s power company was looking into the possibility that a breakdown at a major sub-station in eastern Athens triggered the domino-effect outages. Some officials also blamed a rise in usage because of a heat wave.

The main Olympic stadium complex, which will also host the world’s broadcasters and media, lost power along with nearly all the other venues.

Hundreds of passengers on the Athens underground trains were taken off carriages and led to nearby stations.