Parts of Namibia plunged into darkness

Windhoek - A power outage has plunged several parts on Namibia into darkness as the country's grid comes under mounting pressure, The Namibian reports.

A blackout affected the central, central-northern and western parts of the southern African nation on Friday, with power having to be restored in phases so as to reduce the load placed on the national grid.

In a statement issued by national power utility company NamPower, one of the major lines feeding electricity into the central part of the country tripped, causing a widespread outages.

The cause of the blackout, however, has yet to be ascertained.

The power outage marks the third in the country since the beginning of 2016, with most of the country having been plunged into darkness during the commissioning of a generator at the Ruacana Power Station in the northwest of the country.

In June, most of the country was left without power when Namibia's main route for electricity from South Africa tripped.

Many citizens took to social media to air their grievances over Saturday's blackout, with some even poking fun at the development.