Puerto Rico governor: Island’s power slowly being restored

A transit police officer directs the flow of traffic at an intersection in San Juan, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, after a massive blackout hit Puerto Rico Wednesday afternoon, leaving at least 1.5 million people without power overnight and into the following day. Repair crews are trying to restore electricity on the island after a fire at Aguirre power plant blacked out the entire U.S. territory. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The governor of Puerto Rico says power is slowly being restored nearly 24 hours after a blackout swept across the island.

Gov. Alejandro Garcia-Padilla said Thursday that about half of power customers should have electricity within hours.

The director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, meanwhile, says the entire system should be back to normal on Friday.

Power went out abruptly Wednesday afternoon following a fire at a power plant in the southern town of Salinas. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Nearly everyone on the island of 3.5 million people lost power.