DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – Bangladesh was hit by a nationwide blackout on Saturday after a transmission line bringing electricity from neighboring India failed, but power was restored to many parts of the country within a few hours, an official said.
The blackout was caused by a “technical glitch” and swept across the impoverished and energy-starved South Asian nation at around noon, said Masum-Al-Beruni, managing director of the state-run Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd. He did not elaborate on the cause.
Officials used “powerful generators” to restore power to some parts of the country by 3 p.m., and they expected the capital, Dhaka, a city of more than 10 million people, to have electricity by Saturday evening, Beruni told The Associated Press. He did not say exactly where in the country power had been restored.
“One by one, we have begun restarting all our substations that supply electricity in Dhaka. The city will get power back as soon as possible,” he said.
Dhaka’s hospitals and the international airport were able to continue operating unaffected, with emergency generators supplying power.