Much of Venezuela, capital hit by power outage

CARACAS (Reuters) - A major power outage hit most of Venezuela and darkened the capital Tuesday, prompting calls for calm as workers streamed through the streets of Caracas after the transport system ground to a halt.

Power was restored to some regions and parts of Caracas as thousands of workers walked home through the crime infested city after the metro train system shut down and traffic signals failed.

Drivers pounded their vehicles' horns in the main avenues, which were clogged with traffic as darkness fell.

The government said later that 60 percent of the country's energy supply had been restored, but it gave confused accounts of the cause of the blackout. The energy ministry blamed a forest fire which had burnt through a cable and the interior minister cited problems at a major hydro-electric dam.

Officials said full power services would be restored within hours across the oil-exporting nation.

"It happened at the moment of peak demand," said Hipolito Izquierdo, head of the country's electricity authority. "The line that failed is now totally repaired."

Izquierdo said power would be restored to Caracas shortly and to the rest of the country during the evening.

Small-scale blackouts are common in rural regions in Venezuela but the city's power supply is usually stable and Tuesday's outage was the largest in years.

Hospitals reported confusion but were running services with generators. The national airport said flights were operating with minor delays. Mobile phone systems went down for a short time and residents formed long lines at banks.

Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chavez, nationalized two electricity companies last year, but the power failure occurred at the country's distribution company which has always been in state hands.

Officials at state-owned oil company PDVSA said they could not confirm or deny if refineries were affected, although the power was out in the oil-producing states of Falcon and Zulia.

Many citizens in Caracas responded to calls from emergency services to remain calm.

"We're not taking it too seriously, people are having fun," said security guard Carlos Castillo, who was drinking a beer while he waited for the traffic to calm before heading home. (Additional reporting by Fabian Cambero, Enrique Pretel and Ana Isabel Martinez; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel)