Singapore business district hit by rare power outage

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Parts of Singapore's financial district suffered a rare power outage on Friday afternoon before electricity was restored in about half an hour, occupants in some office towers said.

Such disruptions are rare in the wealthy Southeast Asian city-state, where residents and businesses are used to efficient and uninterrupted public utilities services.

"It was quite shocking. Nobody was doing any business after the power went out," said one employee of a money-changer at Raffles Place, where many global banks and multinational companies are located.

The Straits Times newspaper said some people turned to social media to report that lifts in their buildings had stopped working and they were trapped in their offices without light.

Utility SP Group said in a statement that electricity supply to parts of the business district was fully restored within 34 minutes. It was investigating the cause of the outage.

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)