BOGOTA, March 17 (Xinhuanet) -- At least eight Colombian cities, among them the capital Bogota, Medellin and Cali, the three most important cities in this South American country, suffered a blackout late Saturday following a severe failure in the electrical transmission system, the Colombian authorities said.

The power failure occurred around 10:50 p.m. local time Saturday (0350 GMT Sunday) due to an overload in the Chibor substation following a surge in user demand, said a spokesman for the state-owned Electrical Interconnection company (ISA), which is in charge of power supply in the country.

Meanwhile, the authorities of the capital city quickly denied that the sudden power outage might be linked to sabotage or rebel attack. "It's the result of a technical malfunction," assured Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus.

ISA's preliminary reports indicate that the cities that have been knocked into darkness are Bogota, Tunja (central Colombia), Medellin (northwest), Cali, Popayan and Neiva (all in southwest), Bucaramanga (northeast) and Armenia (west), where at least 15 million inhabitants were left without power supply.

"Several operations have been under way to maintain public order, and what needed most at the moment is patience when we're waiting for the power supply to be reestablished," Mockus added.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest guerrilla group, has launched a new wave of attacks on the country's electricity system by bombing electrical transmission towers, especially after the government of President Andres Pastrana broke off peace talks with it on February 20.

Millions of Colombians however stayed up late on Saturday night to watch the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix broadcast live, in which Colombian hero pilot Juan Pablo Montoya was due to challenge the domination of Michael Schumacher of Germany.

Xinhau

-- Anonymous, March 17, 2002