Electricity returns to Berlin after the longest outage since World War II

Power outages

The mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegener, said: "The process of restoring power, which began at 11 a.m. local time, was complex and gradual."

A fire that broke out early on Saturday destroyed a cable channel, cutting off power to about 45,000 homes and more than 2,000 businesses in the southwestern neighborhoods of the city at a time when temperatures were extremely low.