MUSCAT: Oman was brought to a standstill on Monday by an unprecedented power blackout.
The outage that lasted for about five hours disrupted airport operations, internet and mobile services, and forced several shops including malls to close, while hundreds of workers left home early.
The Public Services Regulatory Authority said a technical failure in the 400-kilovolt power transmission lines (the main line and the backup line) linking the Ibri and Nahida stations, led to a series of successive interruptions in large parts of the electricity transmission network and generating stations.
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Nama Group ordered an immediate investigation and said it will plan for a permanent solution to avoid suck risk in the future. “I never saw such an incident during my last 32 years in Oman,” said Abdul Samad, a Muscat based resident.
The outage affected traffic lights as well, with traffic jams reported in multiple locations in Muscat. Royal Oman Police officers were seen in all locations to manually control the traffic. All most 95% electricity services were restored in many parts of the country.
