"We were like sardines in the dark," one passenger described the moment their underground train stalled. Many of those who had been in lifts inside the stations when the power cut happened had to be freed by firefighters. One woman in her 70s was trapped in a lift between two floors in a building in Santiago.

Authorities in Chile said they restored power to most homes on Wednesday, hours after a massive, rare blackout caused transport chaos in the capital and forced the president to declare a state of emergency and curfew across much of the country.

A sweeping blackout plunged most of Chile into darkness Tuesday, stranding commuters, knocking the internet offline and paralyzing businesses and daily life as officials scrambled to restore power. The government declared a state of emergency alongside a mandatory nighttime curfew that will last until 6 a.