Pakistan sees major power outage after grid failure
STORY: Tens of millions of people in Pakistan were left without electricity on Monday (January 23), the power ministry said.
It's the second reported "major breakdown" of the national grid there during the last three months.
Factories, hospitals and schools across the country had no power for hours.
It came after a voltage fluctuation in the grid occurred in southern Sindh province, according to the country's power minister.
Traffic lights and computer screens went dark in Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi.
This was the scene at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
Outages were also reported in the capital Islamabad.
And in Peshawar in the north some of the city's 2.3 million residents said they were unable to get drinking water because the pumps were powered by electricity.
Commuters were left stranded at this Metro station in the eastern city of Lahore.
The sorry state of Pakistan's power sector is emblematic of an economy that has lurched from one International Monetary Fund bail-out to the next.
Electricity outages occur frequently because of a lack funds to upgrade ageing infrastructure.
When the grid broke down in October it took several hours before power was restored.
The power ministry issued a statement saying that work was ongoing to revive the system.
