Hundreds of thousands of households have been affected by a wide-ranging power outage after an underground cable caught fire on Friday in Wuchang, central China's Hubei Province.

The cnhubei.com website reports a fire burnt electric wires installed in an underground passage, triggering a blackout through the Simenkou, Yuemachang, Nianyutao and Jiedaokou districts.

The blackout also wreaked havoc on the city's traffic as more than ten electric buses ground to a halt and traffic lights stopped functioning.

Elevator services were suspended in a number of buildings and hospitals have to delay their surgical procedures.

One of the maintenance staff from the local electricity department has said the fire may have been lit by a burning cigarette thrown by someone passing by.

Locals were also unable to use the telephone or log on to the internet because the fire also damaged telecom cables.

Official sources say the power supply resumed two hours after the incident, though losses worth around 3,000,000 yuan were inflicted.

(CRI December 30, 2006)