Power blackout in several parts of Sarawak

Several parts of Sarawak have been plunged into darkness this evening, with a power outage occurring at 6.38 pm.

Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), in a statement here tonight, said all customers from Kuching and Sibu appeared to have lost power, simultaneously caused by the Oya-Selangau 275kV double circuit transmission lines tripped at 6.38 pm.

However, there were no reports of power disruptions in Miri, located in northern of Sarawak.

SEB said the supply was restored progressively with power back in Sibu, Sarikei, Song, Kapit, Tanjung Manis, Julau, Pakan and Bintangor within one hour.

Parts of the western region of the state - Kuching, Sri Aman, Betong, Saratok - were restored in stages with most parts fully restored between one to two hours, except for some parts of Matang, which is in progress.

"As at press time SEB is continuing its efforts to restore power to the remaining affected areas," said the statement.

"SEB is investigating the cause of the outage and will engage an international consultant to independently verify the results of the investigation," added the statement. --Bernama