Chile Declares State of Emergency Amid Massive Nationwide Power Outage

Chile has declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. following a massive power outage that affected approximately 19 million people, including Santiago. The blackout was caused by a failure in a high-voltage transmission line, disrupting daily life, public transport, and major copper mines, and is considered the country's largest in over a decade. President Gabriel Boric criticized electricity companies for their failure to prevent the outage, stating that investigations will be conducted. The outage, reported around 3:15 p.m., left 98% of the population without power and caused significant chaos, including stranding passengers in subway trains and on amusement rides. As of Tuesday evening, power restoration efforts were underway, with officials hopeful for a return to normalcy soon. The Interior Ministry has deployed armed forces to maintain order amid the crisis.