British News Agency

The power outage, which began on Sunday afternoon, left many people struggling in sweltering temperatures exceeding 30°C.

Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody told reporters, "A monkey came into contact with the grid transformer, causing an imbalance in the electrical system."

Engineers prioritized critical facilities such as hospitals and water treatment plants while working to restore power across the island nation of 22 million people. Some areas regained electricity within hours, but many households without generators remained in darkness until late at night.

On social media, Sri Lankans compared the event to an exaggerated slapstick comedy, while others highlighted the fragility of the country's power grid. "One monkey = total chaos. Time to rethink the infrastructure?" one user wrote. Another joked, "Only in Sri Lanka can a monkey cut off electricity to an entire country."

Beyond internet jokes, the outage underscored Sri Lanka's ongoing struggle with energy security. Experts have long warned that the country's power grid is outdated and vulnerable to disruptions.

The Daily Mirror quoted an anonymous senior engineer as saying, "The national power grid is so weakened that if there is a fault in one of our lines, we can expect frequent power outages across the island."