MaltaMedia.com

The solemn and quiet Good Friday celebrations were disrupted by another nation-wide power cut in Malta and Gozo on Friday evening. Enemalta said it was caused by a fault that occurred during switching operations at Delimara power station. Power was restored to the whole grid by 23.52 hrs, Enemalta said, while apologising for the inconvenience caused.

Lights went off at around 1935 hrs, and though they were briefly back at around 2005 hrs, they were off again within a couple of minutes. Some areas got power back at around 2045 hrs, especially sensitive areas such as the Mater Dei hospital and Freeport. It was also being slowly restored in other areas of the country.

The cut has disrupted the Good Friday processions which were in their final phases in several localities. Traffic lights also went out and contributed to the confusion.

Enemalta immediately issued a statement saying there was a “technical fault” that let to the blackout and this is being investigated. No one was injured. The fault was later located at the Delimara power station and it took almost four hours for power to be restored to the whole country.

Enemalta dismissed any rumours that an explosion has taken place at either power stations.

This is the second nation-wide power cut in less than two weeks. On 22nd March a similar cut was caused by a boiler at the Marsa power station. Another cut was experienced last November.

Favourite Channel News reports in more detail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgurdEkJ5kk