A large part of Manhattan, New York,  was plunged into blackness on   Saturday after a major transformer exploded.  More than 70,000 homes and businesses were left without power.

It is thought the power outage was caused by excessive load on  a transformer, causing an explosion and then a fire at the transformer. Firefighters were called to a fire at 7pm.

In the 1970s a blackout lead to extensive looting and rioting. However last night’s blackout passed without major incident.

Read More: France 24