Most of Kuwait hit by power blackout

Kuwait City - A power blackout hit most of the energy-rich Kuwait on Wednesday, disrupting traffic and a number of vital facilities but leaving oil installations unaffected.

An hour after the outage, power was partially restored to several residential areas, Electricity and Water Minister Abdulaziz al-Ibrahim told state-run television.

He said power would be restored to all areas "within hours".

The blackout came after a 2 000-MW unit was knocked out at Subbiya power plant, which produces 5 700 MW, disabling the whole plant, he said.

Subbiya is one of five power plants in Kuwait.

Lights went off at buildings, a number of hospitals, along the roads and at Kuwait Airport, according to pictures posted on Twitter.

Airport officials said flights were not affected.

Police patrols were mobilised to monitor roads and traffic lights, many of which went off, leading to traffic jams.

Oil installations, particularly Kuwait's three refineries, have not been affected, an industry source told AFP.