Officials in Chile say a massive blackout left a large section of the country in the dark for more than half an hour late Monday.
Energy officials say the blackout covered a 1,000-kilometer area and occurred when power failed in the central power grid. They say the affected areas were between the city of Copiapo in the north and Talca in the south. The downtown area of the capital, Santiago, was also without power.
Emergency crews say people had to be rescued from elevators and public transportation. Officials say the power cut forced many companies to send employees home early.
Officials say power was restored to most of the affected areas after 40 to 45 minutes.
Some information for this report provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.