Hong Kong fire leaves 20,000 households without power for 2 days
22/06/2022 02:39
HONG KONG, June 22 (Reuters) - A fire in global financial
hub Hong Kong has left 20,000 households without electricity for
two days amid hot and humid weather.
The city's government is requesting an investigation into
the accident, which occured on Tuesday.
Large-scale power cuts are rare in Hong Kong.
Electricity supplier CLP Power 0002.HK said one of its
cable bridges in the northern district Yuen Long had caught fire
on Tuesday at 7 p.m., cutting power to around 160,000 customers.
There had been no injuries, it said.
Power to essential services, including hospitals and
railways, had been restored but two more days would be needed to
restore supply to a remaining 20,000 customers, the company said
in a statement.
The government said: "We understand that the power outage
incident in this very hot weather has greatly affected the
public, and we are deeply sorry for this." Hong Kong's forecast
maximum temperature for Wednesday and Thursday was 31 degrees,
with high humidity.
The government added in its statement that it had asked CLP
Power to determine the cause of the accident and submit a
report.
The education bureau said dozens of schools in the area had
lost power and would need to suspend classes on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
((farah.master@thomsonreuters.com; +852 3462 7709;))