Residents in Toronto, Canada were left without power for several hours late Monday after a fire at an electrical transformer station.
The accident occurred as Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip were to attend a state dinner at the luxury Royal York Hotel in Toronto with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The power was restored in time for the dinner, but did briefly disrupt an awards ceremony the prince was hosting at the hotel. The ceremony went ahead with only partial lighting.
Hydro One, the utility that provides electricity for Ontario province, says up to 250,000 people had no electricity after the accident, which struck during one of the hottest days of the year, with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius.
The blackout affected the evening rush hour commute, disrupting public transit services and knocking out power to traffic lights, leaving motorists stuck in long traffic lines.
The company says full power was restored about four hours later.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
