WASHINGTON: A massive cable failure triggered a huge power outage in a major US city on Tuesday, leaving thousands of people without electricity in severe cold.

The power outage in Detroit also affected public buildings and trapped many people in elevators. Dozens of police and fire stations, schools and jails also had no electricity most of the day.

The power outage affected traffic lights, causing traffic jams in downtown Detroit. The city government issued a statement, saying that a “major cable failure” caused the power outage, affecting about 100 buildings in the downtown.

More than 1,200 inmates at two jails were locked down inside their rooms. Schools let out classes at mid-day and a number of fire stations were forced to switch to generators.

A major hospital — Detroit Medical Centre — was compelled to send serious trauma patients to other hospitals. The outage disrupted a murder trial at the Detroit Hall of Justice.

Published in Dawn December 3rd , 2014