[UPDATED] – #Blackout – Electricity goes out in major cities of Pakistan

UPDATE 7: Electricity was partially restored in areas but has gone out again in some. #Loadshedding is now trending on Twitter. Latest statement by the Ministry:

سکھر الیکٹرک سپلائی کمپنی کے مندرجہ ذیل گرڈسے بجلی کی فراہمی شروع
1) 132 kV Madeji
2) 132 kV larkana New
3) 132 kV larkana City
4) 132 kV larkana Site
5) 132 kV Shikarpur
6) 132 kV Hamayun
7) 132 kV jacobabad-1
8) 132 kV jacobabad-2
9) 132 kV lakhi
10) 132 kV G.yaseen

— Ministry of Energy (@MoWP15) January 10, 2021

UPDATE 6: Minister of Energy has given another update on the issue:

تربیلا پاور ہاؤس کے تین یونٹس چلا دئے گئے ہیں

وارسک پاور ہاوس کے یونٹس بھی چلا دئے گئے ہیں

ترسیلی نظام میں بجلی کی فریکونسی ملائی جا رہی ہے

ترتیب وار بجلی بحالی کا جلد آغاز کیا جا رہا ہے

ابتدائی فریکونسی جوں ہی مل جائے تو باقی بحالی کا کام تیزی سے ہوتا ہے

— Omar Ayub Khan (@OmarAyubKhan) January 9, 2021

UPDATE 5: Government statement regarding the matter is given below:

بجلی کے ترسیلی نظام میں فریکوینسی اچانک 50سے 0 پر آنے کی وجہ سے ملک میں بجلی کا بلیک آؤٹ ہے

فریکونسی گرنے کی وجہ جاننے کی کوشش کی جارہی رہی ہے

اس وقت تربیلا کو چلانے کی کوشش ہو رہی ہے جس سے ترتیب وار بجلی کا نظام بحال کیا جائے گا

عوام سے تحمل کی اپیل ہے

— Omar Ayub Khan (@OmarAyubKhan) January 9, 2021

Continued:

تمام ٹیمیں اس وقت اپنے اپنے سٹیشن پر پہنچ چکی ہیں
بطور وفاقی وزیر پاور میں خود اس سارے بحالی کے کام کی نگرانی کر رہا ہوں

عوام کو وقتا فوقتا بحالی سے متعلق آگاہ رکھا جائے گا

— Omar Ayub Khan (@OmarAyubKhan) January 9, 2021

UPDATE 4: Following cities are confirmed so far:

Islamabad
Rawalpindi
Faisalabad
Karachi
Lahore
Multan
Gujranwala
Sialkot
Sahiwal
Chakwal
Quetta
Abbotabad
Sargodha
Peshawar
Muzaffarabad
Rahim Yar Khan

UPDATE 3: 80% areas of the country are affected by the outage as per sources.

UPDATE 2: NTDC system has tripped. It will take a while to restore:

NTDC system tripped. It will take sometime before everything gets back to normal. #blackout #electricity

— Office of Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (@dcislamabad) January 9, 2021

UPDATE: DC Islamabad and his teams are in touch with IESCO officials to restore electricity in the capital.

Power breakdown in the city. No need to panic. We are on duty. Will update after getting info from IESCO

— Office of Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (@dcislamabad) January 9, 2021

Original article below:

Seems like 2021 just pushed to the second gear as electricity has gone out in all major cities of Pakistan. Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi and Karachi are reporting no electricity for the past 10 minutes. The event started with voltage fluctuations for a few minutes until the lights completely went out.

As of right now, the cause of the blackout is uncertain but it does seem to be nationwide. Almost entire cities are reporting that there is no electricity in various sectors which could either be related to a major power failure or something else more drastic.

If you are in touch with WAPDA officials in your area, please let us know in the comments and we will include your statement in the article.

Here is how Twitter is reacting:

Power outage in different cities of Pakistan

Any updates, why…???#Pakistan #blackout #poweroutage

— Salman (@_salmann_) January 9, 2021

As per this user, power is trapped which has caused the blackout:

Power Trapped due to technical reason. Wait for a while. Engineers are busy to restore it quickly#blackout

— پی ٹی آئی چیتی (@PTI_ki_cheeti) January 9, 2021

Meanwhile this user has a genuine question:

How on earth people got to know in 10 mins that it's a complete #blackout in Pakistan?

— Aye. (@a4ambitious) January 9, 2021

We will update this space with more information.