A major electricity blackout hit thousands of homes, businesses and a handful of industries in Gatsata and Nyabugogo today after the main power supplying grid was damaged by a fuel truck in the wee hours of the morning.

According to eye witnesses, the fuel truck belonging to SP Petroleum Transporters lost control and fell off a steep slope while it transported petroleum to the national oil reservoirs in Gatsata.

Although the driver escaped with no injury, the overturned truck rammed into the major electricity pylon that provides 6.2MW of electricity per hour to the region -- instantly leading to a power blackout.

"All business and homes in Gatsata and a large portion of Nyabugogo were affected; our technicians are working and we expect power to be back within the next four to six hours,” Larry Vincent Mpaka, the Electricity Distribution Manager at EWSA said in the morning.