Havana [Cuba], October 21: Millions of Cubans awoke to find their homes still without power after another partial grid failure overnight.
Deepening a crisis that has raised questions over the viability of the government's efforts to reestablish electrical service.
The country's top electricity official, Lazaro Guerra, confirmed a partial grid collapse in the western provinces of Cuba, which includes Havana, late on Saturday.
Technicians were working to resolve the issue, Guerra said, but did not provide a timeline for when power would be restored to the region. The capital of nearly two million residents appeared to be entirely without electricity early on Sunday, as many Cubans formed lines for subsidized rations and mulled the situation outside their homes.
State-run digital news outlet CubaDebate reported that the country's largest power plant, Antonio Guiteras, was back online Sunday and would begin contributing to a restoration of service over the course of the day.
A third grid failure late on Saturday marked a major setback in the government's efforts to quickly restore power to exhausted residents already suffering from severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
The clock was ticking as Hurricane Oscar bore down on northeastern Cuba early on Sunday, threatening to further complicate the government's plans to restore power.
Cuba's meteorological survey warned of "an extremely dangerous situation" in eastern Cuba. The entire region was largely without electricity or communication ahead of the storm, which packed winds as high as 100 miles per hour (161 kph) by midmorning Sunday.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation