Shortly before the start of World Youth Day in Panama, according to local media reports, there has been a major blackout. The state electricity supplier Etesa yesterday confirmed on Twitter that there are failures. Work is underway to restore supplies as soon as possible. How many people are affected, Etesa initially did not announce.
The metropolitan operator of the capital Panama City explained that two lines had to be evacuated due to the power failure. The international airport Tocumen was operated according to the newspaper „La Prensa“ with generators.
World Youth Day officially starts tomorrow. Thousands of pilgrims and other visitors arrived in the Central American country at the weekend. The organizers expected 150,000 young people, said acting Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti last week in Rome. Pope Francis is expected in Panama on Thursday. For the small country in Central America, which has only about four million inhabitants, the big event means a huge organizational effort.
