Dubai hit by power outage

DUBAI - Dubai underwent a major power disruption following a technical fault at Jebel Ali power station at around 9.30am. Sources at Dubai Water and Electricity Authority told Khaleej Times that it would take a few hours to restore the supply.

By A Staff Reporter

Published: Thu 9 Jun 2005, 8:36 PM

Last updated: Wed 19 Oct 2022, 12:33 PM

Traffic on the roads was also affected as signals failed. Policemen were deployed to manually direct the traffic. Police sources said there were a few minor accidents.

Mobile phones also went dead following the power disruption. Services at Rashid Hospital were partially affected while functioning of Dubai Hospital was normal. Police sources said that some people were caught in lifts.

Agencies add: Dubai Police Cpl. Nasser Musa said a cable had caught fire and workers were struggling to extinguish the fire. He said engineers hoped to have the power restored in an hour or less. Officials contacted in the capital Abu Dhabi said the outage appeared to be confined only to Dubai.

By afternoon power was restored to most areas in Dubai as a reliable source affirmed that full electricity services would be restored to normalcy within one hour and the remainder of Dubai would have their power restored soon.

According to an official source, technical teams had been deployed to tackle the problem and restore electricity supply to normalcy.

He added that vital amenities in the city, including the Dubai International Airport, police stations, hospitals and civil defence offices were not affected by the power cut as they have stand-by generators.

Dubai was hit by a power outage for more than one hour in 1999, which the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) blamed on “a sudden drop in the gas fuel control feeding the power plants in Jebel Ali,” where the stations are located. The outage affected most of the emirate and stretched as far as the industrial zone of Jebel Ali.

Last year, the neighbouring emirate of Sharjah was hit by a two-hour power outage which caused disarray as people were trapped in lifts, mobile phone signals went out and water pumps ground to a halt.