From Reuters’ Ruma Paul and Sudarshan Varadhan:

DHAKA, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Large swathes of Bangladesh were left without electricity on Tuesday after a grid failure, a government official said, adding that authorities were working to gradually restore power supply in the country of 168 million people.

The country’s power grid malfunctioned at around 2 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Tuesday, leading to blackouts across 75-80% of the Bangladesh, Bangladesh Power Development Board official Shameem Hasan told Reuters.

An investigation was underway to ascertain the reason for the grid’s collapse and power had been restored in 45% of the regions hit by the blackouts, he said. By nightfall, it was still not clear when power would be fully restored.

Bangladesh, which gets three quarters of its electricity from imported natural gas, has been facing frequent power cuts this year due to its inability to address higher power demand.

The complete Reuters article, originally published October 4, 2022, can be accessed here.