Cuba slowly starts restoring power after island-wide blackout

FILE PHOTO: A woman works in a restaurant during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Norlys Perez/File Photo

HAVANA (Reuters) -Cuba restored a trickle of power to its grid by mid-evening on Friday, officials said, hours after the island plunged into a countrywide blackout following the collapse of one of its major power plants.

The vast majority of the country's 10 million residents were still in the dark on Friday night, but scattered pockets of the capital Havana, including some of the city's major hospitals, saw lights flicker back on shortly after dark.