Several businesses in St. George's suffered a loss of power on Saturday after smoke was seen coming from the basement of a shopping complex.

Six firefighters in two fire engines from Clearwater and St. George's were called out to Somers Wharf, Water Street, together with a senior officer.

Fire Service Staff Officer, Lieutenant Dana Lovell said: "At 10.48 a.m. on Saturday, the Bermuda Fire Service received a report of smoke coming from underground vents. On arrival it was discovered there was smoke coming from an underground electrical transformer vault."

Describing the vault as "smoke logged", he said two firefighters put on breathing apparatus, but after hearing the sound of electrical arcing the Fire Service called out Belco to isolate the power. Further investigation revealed the smoke was coming from plastic insulation in the electrical cables.

"The incident was under control by 11.45 a.m," said Lt. Lovell.

"By the time Belco isolated the power, the smoke had dissipated naturally and the area had cleared itself up."

He added 11 businesses were "affected by the power outage".