Argentina, Uruguay restore power after massive blackout

A massive power outage plunged tens of millions of people in Argentina, Uruguay and parts of Paraguay into the dark on Sunday, in what government officials called an "extraordinary" and unprecedented blackout, the cause of which is not yet known.The blackout struck at 7:07am local time (10:07 GMT), triggered by what Argentine government officials called a failure in a coastal grid that serves a number of countries, and a "total disconnection".Authorities were working frantically to restore power, but by mid-afternoon nearly half of Argentina’s 44 million people were still in the dark.Voters cast ballots by the light of cell phones in gubernatorial elections in Argentina. Public transportation halted, shops closed and patients dependent on home medical equipment were urged to go to hospitals with generators.“I was just on my way to eat with a friend, but we had to cancel everything. There’s no subway, nothing is working,” said Lucas Acosta, a 24-year-old Buenos Aires resident. “What’s worse, today is Father’s Day. I’ve just talked to a neighbor and he told me his sons won’t be able to meet him.”By mid-afternoon, power had been restored to most of Uruguay’s 3 million people. But in Argentina, only 56% of the nation’s grid was back up and running as of 3:30 p.m. local time, Energy Minister Gustavo Lopetegui told a news conference.The government is not ruling anything out, including a cyberattack, although Lopetegui said it is not among the primary potential causes being considered.Carlos Garcia Pereira, head of Transener, Argentina's largest power-transmission operator, said the failure in the system could be caused by something as simple as humidity during a day of heavy rainfall.Lopetegui stressed that Argentina's power system is "very robust" and is generating more than it requires.An investigation is under way to determine who is responsible, and if sanctions are necessary.