Massive blackout strikes Venezuela

A massive power outage strikes most of Venezuela, leaving several million people without electricity including those in the capital Caracas. The outage, which started at 10:38 am (1508 GMT), hit western states of Tachira, Merida and Zulia as well as several central states and some in the east including Sucre, AFP reported. The blackout happened due to an unexplained fault in the 800-kilovolt Guri-Malena line, which distributes power from the Guri hydro-electric plant in eastern Venezuela. Guri is one of the largest power plants in world. The Guri-Malena line distributes 70 percent of the electricity consumed in Venezuela.