Residents Complain Of Scorching Heat During Blackout

Residents affected by the power outage in New Territories West on Wednesday said they had to endure high temperatures during the night, while some said they enjoyed a candlelit dinner in the dark.

160,000 households in Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai and Tuen Mun plunged into darkness after a fire broke out on a CLP transmission cable bridge in Yuen Long on Tuesday evening.

Wong, an elderly man living in Tin Shui Wai, said he couldn't sleep until power supply resumed in the small hours on Wednesday.

"I was sweating and the bed was sticky, I couldn't fall asleep until 2:45am. [The electricity] was restored at around 2:30am," he told RTHK.

Another Tin Shui Wai resident surnamed To said he had to find refuge in a shopping mall in Yuen Long.

"It was so hot, I went to Yuen Long to look for a place with air conditioning and a cellphone signal, which was very important," he said.

But for some luckier residents, including a woman surnamed Lau, the power failure didn't last too long.

"I was making dinner and then suddenly a few of the lights popped... A few minutes later everything just went dark. Fortunately we had some candles, so we had a very romantic candlelit dinner," she said.

"But we live in an area near Tin Shui Wai Hospital, so we had our power back on just over one and a half hours later."

A resident surnamed Cheung who lives right next to the cable bridge praised the power firm for responding promptly.

"For our building, the power was just out for one hour under the severe fire. So I think they're doing a pretty good job. I think they are trying their best to fix the problem under the hot weather," she said.