Chile Enacts Curfew Amid Nationwide Blackout Crisis

A significant blackout across Chile prompts a state of emergency and curfew as officials scramble to restore electricity and maintain order.

Chile’s government declared a state of emergency and imposed a nighttime curfew on Tuesday in response to a sweeping blackout that plunged vast regions of the country, including Santiago, into darkness. The outage, which began in the early afternoon, affected approximately eight million households, with areas stretching from the northern city of Arica to Los Lagos in the south being impacted.

The blackout disrupted daily life in Santiago; traffic lights were rendered non-operational, public transport systems shut down, and countless individuals were trapped in elevators. In the response to the crisis, President Gabriel Boric announced a curfew set from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., intending to restore order in affected regions where approximately 300,000 students would also remain home as schools were closed.

In a press briefing later that night, Boric commented on the challenging day faced by many citizens. While power was regained for about half the households later on Tuesday, he cautioned that the recovery was still fragile and demanded accountability from the power companies. He described their inaction as “outrageous,” emphasizing the need for swift restoration of services after a transmission system failure led to the outage.

To ensure public safety, soldiers and national police were deployed in the impacted areas, with helicopters flying over Santiago to monitor the situation. Meanwhile, essential services like hospitals, prisons, and airports were operating on backup energy systems as the national disaster agency managed the emergency response.