Pakistan has been hit by what seems to be a nationwide blackout, leaving as much as 200 million folks with out energy, officers and witnesses say. Energy has since been restored in some elements of the nation.
The incident started at 11:45 p.m. on Saturday when energy failures had been reported in all main cities, together with Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi. It gave the impression to be nationwide.
Senator Faisal Javed Khan mentioned the blackout was “countrywide” and attributable to a sudden frequency drop within the energy transmission system. “We’re advised that the technical fault can be restored shortly, Insha’Allah,” he mentioned.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Power mentioned the frequency drop resulted from a “fault” on the Guddu energy plant at 11:41 p.m. “Energy crops have been shut down resulting from falling frequencies,” the ministry mentioned.
Lengthy strains had been reported at gasoline stations as folks rushed to purchase petrol for back-up turbines at dwelling. “I used to be within the line, folks have been ready for hours with petrol cans in hand,” one resident in Karachi advised CNN.
Electrical energy was restored in a few of the affected areas by 2 a.m. and different cities got here again on-line later within the night time. Some areas remained with out energy at 1 p.m. but it surely wasn’t clear how many individuals had been nonetheless affected.
An hours-long blackout hit Pakistan again in January 2015, leaving as much as 80 p.c of the nation with out energy. If Saturday’s blackout is confirmed to have been nationwide, it will be one of many greatest on this planet.
