Thousands of people in the city's north end were left without power on Thursday afternoon because of a power outage which also forced the metro's blue line to shut down for several hours.
The trouble began just before 1 p.m. Thursday, when a fire broke out in a manhole near the corner of St. Andre and Belanger Sts. in Rosemont, causing several successive explosions.
A large swath of people, mainly in the Villeray-St. Michel-Park Extension borough, were plunged in the dark and cold. The outages persisted right through the afternoon.
As of 5 p.m., about 11,000 homes and businesses remain without power. Estimates vary as to when the lights will be back on — anywhere from soon to 7:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the metro's entire blue line, from Snowdon to St. Michel, was put out of service at the same time. Service resumed just as the evening rush hour began to hit its stride.