Sri Lanka hit by nationwide power blackout as grid failure disrupts electricity

Sri Lanka suffered an islandwide power outage from around noon on Saturday, with the blackout continuing for more than three hours, power officials said.Water supplies, internet services and mobile connectivity were affected as authorities worked to restore electricity across the island in stages.The outage disrupted essential services, with the water supply agency warning people against wasting water as the power cuts could affect supplies.The cause of the islandwide outage was not immediately clear, although the government said a failure at a hydropower station in the central hill country, detected a day earlier, could have contributed to it.He urged rooftop solar panel owners to keep their systems disconnected from the grid until the power network was stabilised and electricity supplies restored, according to the state-run utility.The minister said a failure at a hydropower station in the central hill country, detected on Friday, could also have contributed to the blackout, PTI reported.