India, Feb. 10 -- Sri Lanka's Power and Energy Ministry on Monday said a group of monkeys entered the Panadura Power Station and interfered with the power grids during a scuffle which led to the islandwide power outage, media reports said.

A further investigation into the incident is currently ongoing.

The Ministry said it apologized for the inconvenience caused to the public and said steps were being taken to restore power immediately, reported Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror news portal.

Power is slowly being restored in Sri Lanka with priority being given to medical and facilities and purification plants.

People were forced to depend on generators after the blackout started at around 11:00 local time (05:30 GMT) on Sunday.

A large number...