‘Total chaos’: Monkey blamed for nationwide power cut in Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka

A countrywide power outage in Sri Lanka has been blamed on a monkey that clambered into a power station south of Colombo.

The blackout, which began around midday on Sunday, left many people sweltering in temperatures exceeding 30C (86F).

“A monkey came into contact with our grid transformer, causing an imbalance in the power system,” the energy minister, Kumara Jayakody, told reporters.

Engineers scrambled to restore power in the island nation of 22 million people, prioritising critical facilities such as hospitals and water purification plants. While some areas regained electricity within hours, many households without generators remained in the dark well into the night.

On social media, Sri Lankans likened the incident to a slapstick comedy, while others highlighted the fragility of Sri Lanka’s power grid. “One monkey = total chaos. Time to rethink infrastructure?” one user wrote. “Only in Sri Lanka can a monkey knock out the entire nation’s electricity,” another joked.

Beyond the internet memes, the outage underscored Sri Lanka’s ongoing struggles with energy security. Experts have long warned that the country’s power grid is outdated and vulnerable to disruptions.

“The national power grid is in such a weakened state that frequent island-wide power outages may be expected if there is a disturbance in one of our lines,” an unnamed senior engineer was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.

Sri Lanka is no stranger to power shortages. In 2022, amid a deep economic crisis, rolling blackouts became a grim reality as fuel shortages forced authorities to ration electricity for up to 13 hours a day.

The Ceylon Electricity Board issued an apology for the Sunday blackout but did not explain how one incident could have had such widespread repercussions. There was no word on the fate of the monkey.

Monkeys have become an increasing problem in Sri Lanka due to their booming numbers. As humans encroach on forested areas, the animals raid villages in search of food and destroy crops. The endemic toque macaque is estimated to number between 2 and 3 million on the island.