- Title: Oil capital of Venezuela without power after electrical explosion
- Date: 31st August 2018
- Summary: MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA (AUGUST 31, 2018) (REUTERS) DAMAGED ELECTRICAL POLE AND EQUIPMENT CABLES LYING ON ROAD BURNT GATE OFFICIALS NEXT TO DAMAGED LINES DAMAGED ELECTRICAL POLE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MARACAIBO RESIDENT, MARIA MARQUEZ, SAYING: "What we did here was lock ourselves inside the house, my grandchildren, my children, and, we couldn't leave because of the flares, the flames, and since the cables are close to the house we felt it (the explosion) here, like it was inside the house." TRUCK AND TECHNICIANS REPAIRING ELECTRICAL POLE VARIOUS, WORKERS TRIMMING A TREE BY POLE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MARACAIBO RESIDENT, EVELINDA DIAZ, SAYING: "People were alarmed because this isn't the first time that these explosions have happened. It's exploded several times now, but this time was the strongest explosion." CABLES ON ROAD ELECTRICAL TECHNICIANS ON ROAD DAMAGED CABLE ON GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MARACAIBO RESIDENT, RAUL GONZALEZ, SAYING: "Everything is going to be ruined - all my fish and the meat that I have in the freezer because this is going to take a while. They won't be able to fix this right now. I'm going to have to exchange it (his food), I'm going to put up a big sign to say I'll exchange meat for sardines and grains." GENERAL VIEW, DOWNED POWER LINES CLOSE SHOT, DAMAGED CABLE VARIOUS, DAMAGED ELECTRICAL POLES AND EQUIPMENT
- Embargoed: 14th September 2018 19:53
- Keywords: Venezuela Maracaibo electric outage blackout electrical explosion crumbling infrastructure sabotage
- Location: MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA
- City: MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents
- Reuters ID: LVA0018VIRMF7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Venezuelan authorities reported that in the early hours of Friday morning (August 31) an electrical substation exploded in Maracaibo, one of the centres of Venezuela's oil industry, leaving a large portion of the city without power.
Known for decades for its relative wealth and for being the historic heart of the oil industry, Maracaibo is now living with the consequences of years of lack of investment in electrical infrastructure, one of a number of problems facing Venezuela as it suffers an economic recession and hyperinflation.
Venezuela's Justice Minister, Nestor Reverol, announced in a statement on national television that authorities had detained 12 people. Reverol called the explosion an "act of sabotage" and claimed that those behind the incident were, "contracted by intellectual architects from Colombia."
No victims have been reported as a result of the explosion. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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