Squirrel disguised as stork causes blackout

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ELECTROCUTED STORK BLAMED FOR MASSIVE OUTAGE IN PORTUGAL

Story Filed: Wednesday, May 10, 2000 4:07 PM EST

Lisbon, May 10, 2000 (EFE via COMTEX) -- A stork electrocuted on a high-tension wire near the central Portuguese town of Rio Maior caused a blackout throughout half of the country Tuesday, Electricity of Portugal said Wednesday.

The blackout began at 10:17 p.m. local time (2117 GMT) on Tuesday, with some areas still without power on Wednesday, electric utility spokesman Gil Vicente said.

Vicente acknowledged that "there was a flaw in the system," because certain equipment should have worked automatically and it did not.

The blackout affected all of metropolitan Lisbon and the areas of Algarve and Alentejo.

"There are devices to keep storks from high-tension wires, and we are checking the whole system to determine the reasons why they failed," he said. EFE

mrl/rl/jlb

http://library.northernlight.com/FC20000510630000131.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc

-- - (x@xxx.com), May 10, 2000


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