60 million affected by widespread Brazil power outage

Brazil emerged Wednesday from a widespread power outage that plunged as many as 60 million people into hours of darkness, prompting security fears and concern from residents.

Power went out for more than two hours in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and several other major cities.

Airport operations were hindered and subways ground to a halt. Neighboring Paraguay also went black, for less than a half hour.

Wednesday, lights twinkled back on along Rio's several beaches, as well as in Sao Paulo.

An elite police unit was sent into the streets to maintain calm, amid safety concerns caused during the blackout.

Vania Guedes, Rio de Janeiro Resident, said, "I stayed in a bar waiting for the power to be restored and a bunch of people say they heard of people getting robbed. So, we were all afraid of going home."

The Brazilian government says the outage may have occurred due to transmission line failures from the huge Itaipu Dam.

An anonymous spokesman at Brazil's Energy Ministry says up to 60 million people were affected, nearly a third of the nation's population.

File photo shows the night lights of Sao Paulo illuminating the  city's skyline. Power has been largely restored to much of southern  Brazil after a four-hour blackout that plunged the country's biggest  cities into darkness, triggering a crime alert, according to officials and witnesses.(AFP/File/Mauricio Lima)