Fault in nat’l grid: Pakistan hit with major power outage

A massive power breakdown in Pakistan yesterday affected most of the country's more than 220 million people, including in the mega cities of Karachi and Lahore.

Local outages are common across Pakistan, and the national power system is a complex and delicate web where problems can quickly cascade.

The hours-long outage, the second in two years, was caused by a fault in the national grid at around 7:30 am (0230 GMT).

"According to initial reports, the system frequency dropped at the national grid in the morning which led to a massive breakdown," the ministry of energy tweeted.

Repair work was underway, with limited power restored in parts of the capital and the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir said the grid should be fully functioning by 10:00 pm.