Employee error caused major Amsterdam power outage

A major power outage in Amsterdam Centrum on Friday was caused by a mistake made by a Liander employee. The man had to cut a cable, but cut the wrong one, a spokesperson for the grid manager said to AT5.

This happened on Daniel Stalperstraat around 10:30 a.m. on Friday. It caused a kind of chain reaction, resulting in a massive flame on Weteringschans that hurt two people. The employee who cut the wrong cable did not sustain serious injuries. Liander called in an independent institute to investigate how the mistake was made.

It took more than 24 hours to restore power to all households in Amsterdam Centrum and Zuid, according to NU.nl. At the height of the power outage, 28 thousand households had no electricity. On Saturday morning, 3 thousand homes was still without power. Only around noon on Saturday was power restored to everyone.