QUETTA, May 24: Almost entire Balochistan including Quetta plunged into complete darkness on Saturday night after rains and thunderstorm disrupted the power supply from Guddu to the province.

Reports reaching here say that the main 220kv Guddu-Sibi double-circuit and 220kv Uch-Sibi single-circuit transmission lines developed fault due to heavy rains coupled with thunderstorm which hit Sibi this afternoon.

The power supply to Quetta and other parts of southern, central and eastern Balochistan remained suspended from 3.35pm to around 7pm. But after a very brief period of time, the supply once again disrupted as fault could not be removed completely.

A spokesman for the Quetta Electricity Supply Company (QESCO) confirmed late on Saturday night that power supply could not be restored from the national grid till late night as fault could not be found out so far.

“QESCO teams are trying to find out the main fault,” the spokesman said and added that the power supply was restored to the main Quetta city and cantonment area through alternate Dera Ghazi Khan-Loralai transmission line from a private power plant.

He said the supply from the Sibi-Uch single-circuit transmission line was also restored late night after clearing the fault in it. However, Qesco engineers and technical staff were patrolling between Sibi and Guddu to trace the main fault.

Major parts of southern and central Balochistan were still in complete under darkness till filing of this report.