HARIPUR, June 10: A major power breakdown, triggered by a huge fire in one of the main transformers of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company, plunged the entire Hazara division and parts of the Attock district and Azad Kashmir into darkness on Saturday night, informed sources told Dawn on Sunday.

The fire caused a loss of millions of rupees, and it took fire-fighters of the local fire brigade two hours to extinguish the raging blaze, the sources said.

According to Abid Hussain, the in-charge of the Kangra Grid Station, Haripur, the fire erupted in the Current Transformer, commonly known as CT, after a big blast at around 7.16pm, destroying it completely and disrupting power supply to these areas.

He said the fire caused tripping in the Burhan Power Grid Station, plunging most parts of the Haripur district, Abbottabad district, Mansehra, Battal, Battagram, Balakot, Thakot, Pattan, Muzaffarabad and Hattian areas of the Attock district into darkness.

When asked what had caused the blaze, Mr Hussain said the reason was still to be investigated.

He said Pesco’s Deputy Manager Said Ghafar and Assistant Manger Nasir Qureshi reached the grid station immediately and supervised the fire extinguishing and rescue operation.

The supply of the electricity to all affected areas was restored in two hours, he claimed.

When contacted, Mr Said Ghafar, the Deputy Manager of Pesco, said that the burnt CT would soon be replaced.

He said the fire incident had nothing to do with the ongoing load-shedding being carried out because of the huge gap in demand and supply.

He expressed the hope that the situation would improve after a little change in weather.