HAVANA — A massive blackout left millions in Cuba without electricity on Friday night, marking the country’s fourth major outage in six months amid a worsening economic crisis.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines attributed the blackout to a failure at a substation near Havana. Power outages began around 8 p.m. local time, causing widespread disruptions, including intermittent internet and telephone services.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel assured the public that authorities were “working intensely to restore stability” to the grid. Lázaro Guerra, the ministry’s director of electricity, stated on national television that power was being prioritized for essential services like hospitals.

The Cuban Electricity Union announced a strategy to gradually restore power through “microsystems,” which are already functioning in several provinces, including Guantánamo, Santiago, Las Tunas, and Pinar del Río. In Sancti Spíritus, local energy officials reported that over 200,000 customers had regained power through these systems.

For many Cuban families, the outage has raised concerns over food spoilage in the island’s tropical climate. Cecilia Duquense, a 79-year-old resident of Central Havana, shared her frustration: “I was about to cook some spaghetti when the power went out. And now what?”

Authorities continue efforts to fully restore electricity across the country, but no timeline has been provided.