Power Cut Plunges Several Cities across Pakistan into Darkness

This morning, power was gradually being restored to major cities across Pakistan after it was hit by a massive electricity blackout, according to officials.

"Several cities and towns across Pakistan plunged into darkness overnight following a major technical fault in the country's power generation and distribution system," Pakistan Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan said on Sunday.

The electricity distribution system in the nation of more than 210 million people is reportedly a complex -- and delicate -- web, as a problem in one section can lead to breakdowns countrywide.

The latest blackout was caused by a fault in southern Pakistan at 11:41 pm local time on Saturday (1841 GMT), the minister tweeted, citing preliminary reports.

The minister said it was still unknown what exactly triggered the shutdown that caused the drop in the system frequency from about 50 to zero.

The electricity supply was restored fully or partially in many cities like Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Karachi and Faisalabad but it would take some time before the restoration of normal supply.

“Our teams are working to pinpoint the cause of sudden drop in frequency,” he said, adding that three major supply lines originated from Guddu power plant and it was not known which was the first to experience the drop in frequency.

Netblocks, which monitors internet outages, said internet connectivity in the country "collapsed" as a result of the blackout. Connectivity was at "62 percent of ordinary levels," it said in a tweet.

Earlier, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat tweeted that the National Transmission Despatch Company's lines have tripped, causing outage. “It will take sometime before everything gets back to normal,” he added.

Information Minister Shibli Faraz said that the transmission system was old and blamed the previous governments for neglecting it.

In 2015 an apparent rebel attack on a key power line plunged around 80 percent of Pakistan into darkness.

That blackout, one of the worst in Pakistan's history, caused electricity to be cut in major cities nationwide, including Islamabad, and even affected one of the country's international airports.