At least 14 of Venezuela’s 23 states, including the capital Caracas, lost power on Monday afternoon, the second widespread blackout since March.

Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said the outage was caused by an "electromagnetic attack," adding the government has activated all the necessary protocols to provide safety for Venezuelans and work crews are already in the process of reestablishing service.

The lights went out in most of Caracas at 4:41 pm while people in other parts of the country took to social media to report the power had gone out there too.

"It terrifies me to think we are facing a national blackout again," said Maria Luisa Rivero, a 45-year-old business owner from the city of Valencia, in the central state of Carabobo.

"The first thing I did was run to freeze my food so that it does not go bad like it did like the last time in March. It costs a lot to buy food just to lose it," she said.

Venezuela suffered two major widespread blackout in March, leaving Venezuelans out of power for at least 10 days overall. The government attributed the electricity shortages to cyberattacks at the time, accusing U.S.-backed local opposition sabotaged Guri Hydroelectric generation and distribution system. Maduro also accused Washington of waging an “electricity war” to bring Juan Guaido to power.

However, local experts and sources from state-run Corporación Eléctrica Nacional said the more likely culprits are lack of investment, lack of poor maintenance, and lack of technical expertise in the country resulting from a brain drain.

On March 31, Maduro announced a 30-day plan to ration power, and Guaido announced that Japan was prepared to make investments in Venezuela to help solve the power outages.

Wracked by hyperinflation, the oil-rich country has suffered severe food and medicine shortages, and more than 3.3 million Venezuelans, approximately 10 percent of the population, have fled the country in the past four years.

(With input from agencies)