The copper theft epidemic caused a major power outage to a third of the country yesterday morning. At 1:30 a.m. on Thursday the entire Stann Creek and Toledo Districts were caught in a blackout after copper thieves made off with cables from BEL's La Democracia Substation.
They unearthed grounding cables from the perimeter of the substation, uprooted power supply and fiber optic communication cables and cut the main grounding copper wire connections from equipment inside the substation control room.
BEL picked up on the theft by remote surveillance and dispatched crews which restored power by 2:16 a.m.
The value of the loss and damages is approximately $20,000.
Police found three bicycles which are believed to be for the perpetrators.
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