Anonymous ID: 618689 Jan. 10, 2021, 10:29 a.m. No.12447083   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7121 >>7268 >>7283 >>7311

Pakistan left powerless as massive blackout sweeps country

 

Several cities and towns in Pakistan plunged into darkness on Saturday night after a huge blackout caused by a power grid failure hit the nation. The blackout was reported almost simultaneously in many Pakistani cities.

 

Pakistan was plunged into darkness just before Sunday midnight as a massive power outage hit the country. Major Pakistani cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Multan were severely hit by the blackout. Confirming the blackout, Pakistan Power Minister Ayub Khan tweeted, "A countrywide blackout has been caused by a sudden plunge in the frequency in the power transmission system." According to Ayub, the power breakdown was caused after the frequency in the national power distribution system suddenly fell from 50 to zero at a grid in Guddu. He said efforts were underway to determine the reasons behind the situation and asked people across the country to remain calm.

 

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat tweeted that the National Transmission Despatch Company’s (NTDC) lines have tripped, causing the outage." It will take sometime before everything gets back to normal," he added. NTDC system tripped. It will take sometime before everything gets back to normal. #blackout #electricity — Office of Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (@dcislamabad) January 9, 2021

 

According to local media, the blackout extended as far as Pakistan occupied Kashmir and even affected mobile and internet services. Operations at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport were also hit by the blackout. As the entire country grappled with the power failure, #blackout became the top Twitter trend in India and Pakistan with over 68,000 tweets at the time of publishing this story. While some netizens saw the humour in the situation, others prayed for the restoration of services especially for those in hospitals. Some Pakistani Twitterati even brought up the last time a major power blackout swept the country – in 1999 when former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested in a coup by Pervez Musharraf and martial law was imposed in Pakistan.

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/pakistan-left-powerless-as-massive-blackout-sweeps-country-1757538-2021-01-10

https://twitter.com/OmarAyubKhan/status/1348003204315959298

https://twitter.com/dcislamabad/status/1347986160950382593