CARACAS - Caracas and other parts of crisis-wracked Venezuela were hit by a massive power cut on Monday that the government blamed an "electromagnetic attack."

The lights went out in most of Caracas at 4:41 pm (2041 GMT) while people in other parts of the country took to social media to report their own power outages.

"The first indications received from the investigation... point to the existence of an electromagnetic attack that sought to affect the hydroelectric generation system of Guayana," Communication Minister Jorge Rodriguez said in a statement on state television.

Guayana in southern Venezuela is home to the Guri hydroelectric power station that produces 80 percent of the country's electricity.

The statement read by Rodriguez recognized the cut as a "national event."

The capital was hit by massive gridlock as traffic lights lost power, while sidewalks teemed with pedestrians walking home after the metro stopped running.

Closed stores were a common sight on Monday, as the lack of electricity prevented the use of credit and debit cards that are essential due to the shortage of cash in inflation-plagued Venezuela.

"I'm hungry, I want to eat, but there is nowhere to use my debit card," said Hernan Montalvo, complaining of not having enough cash to buy a hot dog.

By late evening Caracas was cloaked in darkness, its streets empty and barely illuminated by the headlights of the occasional passing car.

"I'm outraged," Eurimar Guere, 36, told AFP after leaving her office in eastern Caracas.

"Necessary repairs weren't carried out and it's more of the same. Maybe this power cut will be worse than the previous ones."

President Nicolas Maduro denounced what he said was a "criminal attack against tranquility and peace of the homeland," adding that the country's armed forces had been deployed for relief efforts. -AFP