Most residents had power restored by midnight but the situation remained unstable. President Gabriel Boric blamed power companies for not acting faster.

A large power outage struck most of Chile on Tuesday, resulting in a curfew until Wednesday morning for the areas hit by the blackout.

Electricity providers across Chile scrambled to restore service Tuesday after a sweeping blackout plunged 90% of the country into darkness, stranding commuters, knocking cell service offline and paralyzing businesses and daily life.