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MBS tower hit by hour-long power blackout

The three MBS towers in daytime. Tower 1 was affected by Friday night's blackout. (Yahoo! file photo)
The three MBS towers in daytime. Tower 1 was affected by Friday night's blackout. (Yahoo! file photo)

Hotel guests were plunged into darkness for one hour when one of the three Marina Bay Sands (MBS) hotel towers was struck by a power failure on Friday night.

A further five passengers were stranded in the six lifts in Tower 1, which also stopped operating when the power supply was unexpectedly interrupted, although a spokesperson said they were rescued within the hour that it took for power to be restored.

The spokesperson confirmed that there had been a blackout in Tower 1 at 8:50pm, leaving all 783 of its rooms in pitch darkness, although emergency lights had been activated straightaway for exit signs on each floor.

He added that the majority of the guests who had checked into rooms in Tower 1 were not there at the time of the power failure, and arriving guests were redirected to Tower 3 while power was being restored, reported The Straits Times.

The rest of the MBS resort remained unaffected by the blackout during this time, and the management is now investigating the cause of the incident.

"Our guests' safety is our priority and we have taken every measure to ensure that all our guests are safe," said the spokesperson.

This isn't the first time that MBS has experienced power failures.

Soon after it opened in April last year, it was riddled by a series of blackouts in its casino, retail complex and conference halls, interrupting its first event on 2 May 2010.

In December, a 10-minute power cut disrupted Irish dance troupe Riverdance at the MBS theatre.