Brazil power cut raises concerns for Rio Olympics

BRAZIL yesterday sought to uncover the cause of a massive and mysterious blackout overnight, amid concerns of energy supply stability for the 2016 Olympic host nation.

The outage, which hit at 10.15pm on Tuesday (12.15am Irish time on Wednesday) and lasted four to six hours, plunged nearly half the country into darkness.

An estimated 50 million people — more than a quarter of Brazil’s population (190 million) — were affected, mainly in the major cities in the southern part of the country, including Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.