Myanmar, on Friday, saw many districts of the country facing
substantial power outage due to a “system breakdown”, AFP reported, citing various
government agencies. Citizens started posting about the incident, which caused widespread
outages around major commercial hub Yangon, on social media platforms such as
Facebook and Twitter at around 1.30 pm local time.
A similar situation was reported in the norther part of the
country, in the city of Magway near the Irrawaddy river, as per the relevant
electricity authorities in the region.
“A system breakdown is causing power outages across the
country,” Yangon Electricity Corporation was quoted as saying.
Netizens on Facebook, an extremely popular platform in
Myanmar, similarly reported electricity blackouts in other parts of the
country.
The supply cut comes as the junta has tightened its
chokehold on communications, blocking social media platforms — which people
have skirted by downloading VPNs — and imposing a nightly internet shutdown.
Also read: Refugees escaping Myanmar turmoil trickling across India border
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the February 1 coup that
ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power, with soldiers and police
escalating the use of force on the streets to quell nationwide protests.
