electricity cables yesterday.

The huge truck was turning from King Street into Reid Street when its load caught the overhead wires causing them to touch and burn out.

It cut off the supply to offices in parts of King Street, Church Street East and Reid Street, including the Bank of Bermuda.

It meant the Church Street branch of the bank lost its computer power and had to revert to using paper again.

Photographer Mr. Tamal Simons heard the explosion when the two wires touched.

He said: "I ran outside and saw the truck's load had pushed against the wires and made them touch.'' This was confirmed by spokesperson Ms Linda Smith at the Bermuda Electric Light Company who said: "A truck hit the Cablevision wire and it caused it to come together with the Belco wires. They burned themselves out and broke down.

"They were back within about two hours around noon. There were no major problems.'' Police said that the Globe Forwarding truck was leading a number of vehicles, under Police escort, from No. 7 Dock to Prospect.

The load was made up of parts for the new incinerator which is being built on the North Shore. Special routes have been chosen to avoid any major problems.

A spokeswoman in the Bank of Bermuda said: "It knocked our computers down in our Church Street branch so everything had to be paper-based, from about 9.45 a.m. until 11.45 a.m.

"They closed down for a few minutes to get themselves organised and informed the customers that they could go to other branches if they were not happy.

"It is not going to cause any major problems but the staff at Church Street have spent some time putting everything from paper into the computer.'' UP IN THE AIR -- Cablevision engineers work to repair the damage caused when a truck (right) struck wires in King Street yesterday morning.