Kenyan towns hit by power crisis

Customers enjoy a night out with a candle as their only light source in a Nairobi, Kenya, bar as a power shortage grips the town

NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) -- The Kenyan capital Nairobi and towns throughout the East African country had no electric power for most of Saturday night after the power supply broke down, officials said.

Supplies were gradually restored in some areas on Sunday, but many multi-story buildings in Nairobi remained without power by midmorning.

The Kenya Power and Lighting company said the distribution system was damaged when a pylon on the main power line from neighboring Uganda collapsed inside Uganda.

Uganda's Owen Falls hydroelectric station, at the source of the Nile, normally supplies up to 50 megawatts of power to Kenya.

The Ugandan breakdown coincided with a fault on thermal generators on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, compounding the problem, the company said.

Engineers were working to restore the situation, it added.

Kenyans are experiencing regular power cuts because low rainfall has reduced water levels in its hydroelectric dams.

University students, angered by the blackout, stoned motorists on the main road near the University on Saturday night.

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