Pigeon causes power outage, leaving 22,500 without electricity

A power outage that left 22,500 Dutch homes without electricity on Sunday afternoon, may have been caused by a pigeon, a spokesperson for grid operator Enexis said to Omroep Brabant. The power outage lasted about an hour and affected large parts of Waalwijk, Oudheusden, Sprang-Capelle, Aalburg, Loon op Zand and Werkendam. Power was restored around 5:30 p.m. "It may be that an animal caused a short circuit in an electricity field with transformers that convert the power. Then it (the animal, ed) touches two points and causes a short circuit. The chances of that happening is very small, but it is possible", the Enexis spokesperson conceded to the broadcaster. The outage left several people stuck in elevators. The fire department received reports of this happening in an apartment building on Meester Troelstrapark in Waalwijk and in a building on Fazant in Sprang-Capelle.

#Stroomstoring #Waalwijk, #Heusden, #LoonopZand, #Aalburg en #Werkendam. Monteurs van #Enexis zijn onderweg. Excuses voor het ongemak.

— Enexis Storingen (@EnexisStoringen) April 24, 2016

Donkere winkels en huizen door stroomstoring in Waalwijk, Sprang-Capelle en Oudheusden. Ach ja, we gaan niet dood. pic.twitter.com/NrR9KP3Xb8

— David ッ (@David_vd_Brandt) April 24, 2016

Fijn... Stroomstoring... Ouders hebben het ook... Geen tv meer! Dan maar op de bank met mijn boek!

— Marlot (@_marlot) April 24, 2016