Mali: Water returns to Bamako after sabotage disrupts power supply

Water is back on in Bamako days after sabotage to an electrical supply line left the Malian capital without power.

With no electricity, tap water had been unavailable since Sunday and residents were forces to turn to solar-powered boreholes.

An official from the Bamako District Hospital said patients had had to drink water from the facility's borehole, which was normally used for hygiene purposes only.

"With the taps dry for two days, what choice did we have? Not everyone can afford bottled water," an official from the hospital said.

"Fortunately, however, we advised everyone to add bleach, which spared us from further problems," the official added.

Mali’s drinking water utility SOMAGEP said it’s now secured enough fuel to get its systems up and running but the electrical grid is still facing major disruption.

SOMAGEP said the disruption was the result of “sabotage on the high-voltage line” supplying Bamako from the Manantali Dam on the border with Senegal and Mauritania.

The outages came as al Qaeda-linked jihadists continue to blockade key routes leading to the capital.

Mali has been grappling with a security crisis since 2012, facing insurgencies by jihadist groups, armed gangs and separatists.