Sri Lanka extended power cuts for a third day on Thursday as it scrambled to restore its national grid to full capacity after a monkey triggered a widespread blackout over the weekend that disrupted supply to the island's 22 million people.

Officials in Sri Lanka said a monkey in the wrong place at the wrong time was to blame for a power blackout that affected the entire nation.

A monkey in Sri Lanka caused power outage in Sri Lanka, forcing a power outage in the island nation. The power minister confirmed the news, adding the power was restored at key installations after an hour of disruption.

Sri Lanka has grappled with a struggling energy grid for years, and monkeys are making it worse. On Sunday at around 11:00 local time (12:30 AM EST), a nationwide blackout forced its 22 million residents to either turn to personal generators,

Sri Lanka has been hit by a nationwide power cut, with buildings including hospitals having to rely on generators to supply electricity. The outage, which began around 11:30 local time (06:00 GMT), is yet to be fully fixed.

Sri Lanka experienced extended power cuts due to a nationwide blackout caused by a monkey that disrupted a transformer at a Colombo suburb station. The incident resulted in limited power supply, affecting the national grid and causing cuts during peak hours.

The island nation, where temperatures are above 30°C in most places, suffered a blackout from 11:30 am (local time) onwards. The impact on places like hospitals and schools was not immediately known

Sri Lankan authorities have been working to restore power following a nationwide outage that occurred on Sunday, the state-owned electricity producer and supplier, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), announced.

The outage began around 11:30 a.m. local time and persisted for over three hours, with authorities working to restore full service, according to the reports.

Over the weekend, residents of Sri Lanka found themselves without power during a heat wave, but it wasn’t because of the oppressive temperatures. The energy minister for the island nation reported that the power outage was initially caused by a monkey when it came into contact with a grid transformer.

COLOMBO (Reuters) -- Sri Lanka extended power cuts for a third day on Thursday as it scrambled to restore its national grid to full capacity after a monkey triggered a widespread blackout over the weekend that disrupted supply to the island's 22 million people.