Chile’s president has declared a state of emergency after an electricity blackout plunged most of the country into darkness on Tuesday, including the capital Santiago.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after a massive blackout impacted 19 million people. In an address to the nation, Boric said the outage affected eight million homes and held private companies responsible for the disruption.

President Gabriel Boric said he was activating "a state of emergency due to a catastrophe" to guarantee national security. He announced a curfew from 10 pm Tuesday until 6 am Wednesday.