Historic Spain and Portugal Power Outage Affects Elevators

A power outage in Spain and Portugal on April 28, which is the worst blackout in Spain’s recent history, led to more than 600 reports of people being trapped in elevators, ara was among outlets to report. The blackout affected much of public transportation and telecommunications, as well. The first concern for emergency services personnel was people who were trapped, and evacuation was a top priority. The Barcelona Fire Department had managed 388 calls at the time of the report, of which 90% were elevator-related incidents, and they had responded to 150. According to the city council, priority has been given to people trapped in healthcare centers, nursing homes, schools and vulnerable people. As of the evening of April 28, power had been returned to both countries. The cause of the power outage was unknown at press time, according to CNN.