Ecuador has been hit by a nationwide power outage.
The country's population of 18 million has lost power and connectivity.
"There is a failure in the transmission line that caused a cascade disconnection, so there's no electricity at a national scale," public works minister Roberto Luque said.
Internet outage tracker NetBlocks said: "Metrics show a significant disruption to Internet service across much of Ecuador with national connectivity down to 44 percent of ordinary levels; the incident is attributed to a failure in the transmission line per CENACE," the Centro Nacional de Control de Energía (National Energy Control Center).
The South American nation's grid has faced increasing strain amid a drought affecting hydroelectric power generation. In 2021, hydropower produced 79 percent of Ecuador's electricity.
