Sudan’s ministry of electricity has confirmed a total power blackout across the country on Sunday but it has yet to announce the exact cause of the situation.

The development comes on the second-day of a sit-in protest by thousands close to the presidential palace in Khartoum.

Protesters from across the country have upped their call on embattled President Omar Al-Bashir to leave office after three decades in charge. The protests started in December 2018 and have been ongoing since then.

The country is currently under a state of emergency declared ostensibly to quell the protests. President Bashir declared a 16-month measure which has since been halved by the parliament.

The protesters gathered around an area that also housed the army headquarters and other state security outfits calling for support of the army in the move to oust Bashir.

Crunch day in Sudan.



A diplomatic source says major announcement awaited.



Several Arab states said offered Bashir a haven.



“Egypt ready to evacuate Bashir at moment’s notice.”



“Bur little sign he is buckling under pressure.”



Army will be forced to take a decision. — Rashid Abdi (@RAbdiCG) April 7, 2019</s>This Story is breaking, please check back for updates

Sudan’s ministry of electricity has confirmed a total power blackout across the country on Sunday but it has yet to announce the exact cause of the situation.

The development comes on the second-day of a sit-in protest by thousands close to the presidential palace in Khartoum.

Protesters from across the country have upped their call on embattled President Omar Al-Bashir to leave office after three decades in charge. The protests started in December 2018 and have been ongoing since then.

The country is currently under a state of emergency declared ostensibly to quell the protests. President Bashir declared a 16-month measure which has since been halved by the parliament.

The protesters gathered around an area that also housed the army headquarters and other state security outfits calling for support of the army in the move to oust Bashir.</s>"A failure on the Rabak-Masqar-Sennar-Maranjan-Alhasahisa power line caused the national energy grid to go down," the ministry said in a statement.

The authority did not give any reason for the failure, saying technicians were working to restore power supply.

​The outage comes amid months of anti-government protests that began last December as a public outcry against rising living costs and general economic hardships. Mass rallies prompted President Omar Bashir to dissolve the cabinet and declare the state of national emergency.</s>According to an AEP outage map, power has been restored to thousands after a power outage early Sunday morning.

Less than 200 homes remain without power.

It is unknown what caused the outage.

More than 3,600 customers are without power in Cabell County Sunday morning.

According to AEP's outage map, 2,704 customers should expect a restoration time of 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Most of the outages are reported between Barboursville and Ona. The outage was reported around 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

There is no word on what caused the power outage.</s>KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan suffered a total power blackout on Sunday, the ministry of electricity and water said.

The ministry gave no explanation for the blackout, but said in a statement that engineers and technicians were trying to restore power. It added that more information would be provided later.</s>For the second time in a month a fire beneath electrical transmission lines has been blamed for a major power outage on the Yucatán peninsula.

The power went out at 3:35pm yesterday for 1.63 million customers of the National Electricity Commission (CFE) in Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Campeche. The figure represents about 85% of the CFE’s clients on the peninsula.

The utility said the burning of brush between towers on the transmission lines between Ticul, Yucatán, and Escárcega, Campeche, caused the outage.

The CFE said power was restored by 7:00pm, although there were reports until 8:00pm that parts of Cancún were still without electricity.

A similar outage occurred on March 8 when transmission lines were affected by the burning of sugar cane, cutting off electricity to at least 351,000 customers in Yucatán and Quintana Roo.</s>Thousands of protesters held a sit-in outside Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's residence in central Khartoum, and crowds chanting anti-government slogans filled several main streets, witnesses say.

Sudan has seen sustained protests against Bashir and his National Congress Party since December 19.

Security forces have fired tear gas, stun grenades and live bullets to disperse protesters and dozens have been killed during demonstrations.

Bashir has refused to step down, saying that his opponents need to seek power through the ballot box.

On Sunday evening, dozens of demonstrations took place in the Sudanese capital, eyewitnesses said.

Protesters marched in several streets of central Khartoum, setting fire to car tyres and blocking a main road. Demonstrators also blocked a bridge that connects Khartoum and Khartoum North.

No police officers or other security forces personnel could be seen.

Sudan earlier suffered a total power blackout, the ministry of water resources, irrigation and electricity said without explaining the cause of the outage. Electricity was later restored in some areas.

Since the sit-in began outside of the presidential residence on Saturday, security forces had fired tear gas several times in an attempt to clear the protesters, but thousands remained on Sunday.

Apparently emboldened by the success of similar but much larger protests in Algeria, which forced ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down last week, Sudanese activists called for Saturday's protests.

The demonstrations marked the anniversary of the 1985 military coup that overthrew autocratic President Jaafar Nimeiri after mass protests against his rule.

The protesters urged the military to side with them once more in their bid to push Bashir out of power.

The compound which houses the presidential residence is the most heavily guarded in Sudan. It is also home to the defence ministry and the headquarters of the powerful National Intelligence and Security Service.

On Saturday, at least one person died during protests in Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, state news agency SUNA said without providing detail on the cause of death.

The person killed was a laboratory doctor who succumbed to his injuries, according to a statement from an opposition doctors' committee. Medical staff have played a prominent role in the protests.

SUNA said other civilians and police officers were wounded on Saturday in Omdurman, the scene of protests late into the evening that subsided by Sunday morning.

Police and security forces on Saturday blocked all bridges leading to the capital's centre from Khartoum North and Omdurman, across the River Nile to the north and west respectively, in what appeared to be a bid to prevent the sit-in from swelling.</s>CAIRO — The organizers behind months of anti-government demonstrations in Sudan are calling for fresh marches in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, an umbrella group of independent professional unions, has been spearheading anti-government protests that erupted in December over spiraling prices and a failing economy.

Demonstrations quickly turned to calling for President Omar al-Bashir’s departure after nearly three decades in power.

Saturday’s marches come on the 34th anniversary of the overthrow of President Jaafar al-Nimeiri in a bloodless coup.

The military removed Nimeiri after a popular uprising in 1985, before handing power over to an elected government, which in turn lost power to Bashir in a coup supported by his Islamist hard-liner allies.
A major power outage occurs in Sudan, leaving almost the entire country without electricity amid ongoing anti-government protests.