Power outage leaves millions in Brazil in the dark

SAO PAULO—

A power outage struck large swaths of Brazil on Wednesday, affecting tens of millions of people, especially in the country’s northern and northeastern regions where the system “practically collapsed,” according to an official. The blackout was due to the failure of a transmission line near the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric station, authorities said. Some 22.5 percent of the grid’s total output, or 18,000 megawatts, had been cut.