A SLUG HAS been blamed for a power outage in Japan that led to the temporary suspension of train services, delaying up to 12,000 passengers.

The outage happened on May 30, when power failed on a number of lines operated by Kyushu Railway Co, also known as JR Kyushu.

The company was forced to cancel 26 train journeys serving southern Japan and to delay other services as a result of the outage, causing chaos in a country known for its efficient public transport.

Now JR Kyushu say it has found the culprit: a slug, which had made its way into an electrical power device installed near rail tracks.

“We tracked down the device responsible for the power failure… We initially thought what’s in there was a bug but it turned out to be a dead slug,” a company spokesman told AFP.

Local media said the slug had burned to death after short-circuiting the device.

The official said he did not know if the incident set a new precedent, but described it as “rare”.

“We often have trouble with deer colliding with trains but not a problem with slugs,” he said.

JR Kyushu said it had checked similar devices in the area and confirmed there are no other slug intrusions.

With reporting from - © AFP 2019.