Blackouts in Taipei after substation fire, explosion

Power and water outages were reported in districts of Taipei this morning after a fire at an electrical substation in Wenshan District.

Electricity supplier Taipower was alerted to a sudden drop in electricity consumption at 9:50 am, indicating a problem somewhere in the power grid. Power outages were reported in Wenshan, Yonghe, Banqiao, and Xindian districts.

Residents of Wenshan District reported hearing an explosion at the Wanlong Substation on Jinglong Road, before seeing flames and a pall of black smoke.

The Taipei City Fire Department said that personnel were dispatched to fight a fire at the substation at 9:56 am. No one is trapped and no lives are at risk, the fire department said.

The fire was extinguished at 10:30 am, but firefighters remained on standby in concern that there was a large amount of insulating oil beside the site of the fire.

Taipei City Government said that many cases of people being trapped in elevators were reported, along with a flood of reports of water and power outages on the city’s 1999 hotline.

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