Cuba's power grid collapsed on Sunday evening for the fourth time in two days, plunging much of the island nation into darkness as Hurricane Oscar made landfall in eastern Cuba as a Category 1 storm.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed the preliminary death toll after Oscar made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane but provided no details of how the deaths had occurred.

Cuba has had four electric grid collapses since Friday, and most of the country remains in the dark as slow progress is made to restore power.