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View all search resultsFour died, economic losses mount after Sumatra blackout
At least four people were killed and three others hospitalized from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning during the widespread blackout that plunged nearly all of Sumatra into darkness over the weekend, as businesses across the island grappled with heavy losses caused by the massive power disruption.
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A store in Padangsidimpuan city, North Sumatra, generates electricity from a generator with the rest of the street in darkness after the Sumatra blackout on May 22, 2026. The blackout affected almost all the provinces on mainland Sumatra Island, with electricity company PT PLN saying that electricity had returned to normal on Sunday. (kompas.com/Oryza Pasaribu)
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t least four people were killed, and three others hospitalized from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning during the widespread blackout that plunged nearly all of Sumatra into darkness over the weekend, as businesses across the island grappled with heavy losses caused by the massive power disruption.
One of the fatal incidents occurred in Air Putih district, Batu Bara regency, North Sumatra, where two employees of a mobile phone accessory shop were found dead and two others unconscious inside the shop where they worked and lived on Saturday morning.
Air Putih Police Chief Adj. Comr. Rahmat Hutagaol said the victims were discovered after the shop owner repeatedly failed to contact the employees.
“The shop owner then asked the store supervisor to check on the workers. When the supervisor arrived, the shop was locked from the inside,” Rahmat said on Sunday.
“The supervisor later sought help from nearby residents to force open the door and after the door was broken down, residents found the four employees lying on the floor inside a room,” he added.
The two victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while the other two were found in critical condition but still breathing. The surviving victims were rushed to Bidadari Hospital in Batu Bara regency, where they remain under intensive treatment.
Rahmat said authorities are still investigating the exact cause of death, but preliminary findings suggest the victims were exposed to a lethal level of carbon monoxide emitted by a gasoline-powered generator that had been switched on inside the shop after the blackout struck Sumatra on Friday night.
