Power outage plunges Pakistan into darkness

” A rural eclipse has been caused by a sudden drop in the frequency in the power transmission system ”, said Pakistan’s Minister of Power Omar Ayub Khan said on Twitter. He asked people across the country to stay calm.

In a statement, the Ministry of Energy said that, according to an initial report, there was a fault at the Guddu thermal power plant in the southern province of Sindh in Pakistan, which caused power plants across the country to be closed.

“There are long queues outside petrol pumps in the city, cars are queuing while people are buying fuel for their generators. I was in line, people have been waiting for hours with petrol cans in hand,” said Akbar Saifi, a resident. . in Karachi.

Attempts are now being made to restore power to different parts of the country. Large parts of Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan, still do not have power, according to information shared by K-Electric, the company that supplies power to the city.

At 6:44 Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan was tweeted on Sunday local time that power had been restored to most parts of the capital Islamabad.

Abdullah Khan, spokesman for PIA, the main airline of Pakistan, said that all flight operations remained functional despite the power outage.

“All major airports in the country have a backup of generators,” he said.

Power outages are not uncommon in Pakistan, and most major hospitals, airports and other institutions have their own generators. Those who can afford to regularly keep gas generators at home in case of power outages.