QUETTA, Feb 24: A rocket attack on a grid station triggered an extensive power failure in Quetta on Saturday. The rocket struck a transformer, which caught fire. But fire-fighters extinguished the blaze within half an hour. Minutes after the transformer caught fire, power supply to a large part of Quetta was disconnected. However, electricity was restored to most areas after 90 minutes.

“Qesco (Quetta Electricity Supply Corporation) suffered a loss of Rs30 million due to damage of the transformer, which has a capacity of 20/26 MVA,” Shafiq Khattak, a senior official, said. Other officials said it would take at least a week to repair the damaged grid station.

They said that no other installation suffered damage in the attack. “We are investigating the incident,” a senior police official said. No group or individual claimed responsibility for the rocket attack.—Staff Reporter