A 30-minute nationwide power outage in Zambia over the weekend was due to a technical fault in the interconnected power networks between it and Zimbabwe, a senior government official has said.

Addressing the media in the capital Lusaka on Monday, Peter Mumba, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy, said state power utility ZESCO Limited worked diligently to resolve the outage, which occurred Sunday evening. He said (via AA):

During the power outage, there were two mines that had people trapped underground. These mines included a Chinese mine in Chambishi and Mopani Mine at Mindolo shaft. The people who were trapped were all safely rescued as the mines were supplied with an alternative power supply.

Thabo Kawana, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Media, said that no loss of life occurred in hospitals due to the power outage.

Kawana said that key institutions, including the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia’s largest referral health facility, had power restored within 30 minutes and are equipped with backup power sources.

ZESCO Acting Managing Director Justin Loongo said the Southern African Power Pool is investigating the source of the outage.

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