A major technical fault in Pakistan’s power system caused a massive power outage throughout the country on 9 January. The blackout affected all the country’s major cities, including Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore.

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Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan said that the Guddu power plant in southern Sindh province developed a fault at 11.41 pm local time that triggered a chain reaction that caused other power plants to rapidly shut down. He said: “Our experts are trying to determine the exact location of this malfunction.”

The blackout, one of the worst in Pakistan’s history, affected one of the country’s international airports and forced the country’s hospitals to use their backup generators. Power has largely been restored.

Zafar Yab, Spokesman for the Ministry of Energy, said the Tarbela and Warsak plants, both in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, had come back online and power was being restored to the transmission system. He added that full restoration of power would take some time.