ISLAMABAD: Pakistan experienced a massive power breakdown on Monday morning, confirmed the energy ministry, as the national grid malfunctioned after a sudden drop in frequency.

This is not the first time the country is witnessing a nationwide electricity outage. A similar situation also emerged two years ago in January when there was a countrywide blackout which was attributed to the same technical problem by former power minister Omar Ayub Khan.

Pakistan’s southern region also plunged into darkness last October, and it took about a day for the authorities to restore electricity to major urban centers like Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta and other places in Sindh and Balochistan province.

“According to initial reports, the system frequency of the National Grid went down at 7:34 this morning, causing a widespread breakdown in the power system,” the energy ministry said in a Twitter post, adding that system maintenance work had already begun and was “progressing rapidly.”

The ministry did not specify the reason behind the plunge in the frequency.

Meanwhile, the chief executive of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Chaudhry Amin, said in a statement the authorities had started restoring electricity from the federal capital, Islamabad, and would take care of Lahore and its adjoining areas soon.

He confirmed that all LESCO grid stations had tripped, “depriving industrial, commercial and domestic consumers of electricity.”

A K-Electric spokesperson, Imran Rana, said on Twitter there were “multiple outages” in different parts of Karachi and the power generation company was “investigating the issue.”