Nationwide electricity outage was sabotage

While today’s protests outside the National Assembly were peaceful, an act of sabotage last night had the entire nation on edge. At approximately 8:35 p.m. the country was plunged into darkness when a fault on the one hundred and fifteen kilovolt line between Orange Walk and Maskall caused it to trip, cutting off the supply of power from Mexico. With the Mexican power gone, the remaining domestic supply could not take the national load and the entire system shut down. It was not until 10:15 that the gas turbine and hydro resources were brought into play and electricity supply restored. According to Belize Electricity Limited, a crew investigating the original fault discovered a wire thrown over the high voltage line and this has been identified as the cause of the blackout. The Belize Defence Force has been brought in to patrol the area to prevent future acts of sabotage while B.E.L. and the police seek to identify the person or persons responsible. A reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Although the sabotage is believed to be related to today’s union-led protests in Belmopan, no group has come forward to claim responsibility for the act.