Sharjah: Electricity was quickly restored to areas affected by a power outage on Friday after work teams restored a power station technical fault, an official statement said.
The Sharjah Government Media Bureau stated: "The competent work teams were able to quickly restore the electric current to the areas of Sharjah city after a sudden technical fault occurred that caused the non-flow of gas to the power stations."
The bureau explained that a "technical malfunction in the gas plant in Al Saja’a area in Sharjah caused the closure of the valves of the gas pipelines feeding the stations of the Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority (SEWA), due to the emergency procedures used in the gas plant, which are closed directly when technical malfunctions occur."
"The specialised work teams proceeded to isolate the main valve feeding the electricity stations in Sharjah, returning gas flow through it by 80 per cent, which contributed to the complete restoration of electricity.
“Work is also underway to address the major technical fault and restart the entire gas complex," the statement added.
Power outage
Earlier, Sharjah residents reported the power outage at around 1pm in areas including Al Majaz districts 1, 2, and 3, Al Nahda and Al Taawun Al Rahmaniyah, Abu Shagara, Al Mamzar, Al Yarmouk, Al Khan, Al Qasba.
Social media users took to Twitter to report the outage directed to SEWA.
Fadiyah Mohssein, a resident of Al Majaz told Gulf News that at around 1pm the power was cut from their building.
“I thought it was a technical problem at my flat but when I checked, I found there was no electricity in our entire corridor.”
Al Zahia City Centre was also affected by the outage, said resident Abdul Rahman Al Mazimi.
He went on a Friday afternoon stroll with his family there but he found there was no power.
Meanwhile, some residents returning from Friday prayers back to their apartments have reportedly been stuck inside lifts for several minutes after the power went out.
Back-up generator sets kicked in to help residents get out from lifts, while others took the stairs to reach their flats. Other residents preferred to stay out until the electricity returns.
Power restored
Residents of Al Majaz 1,2,3 and Al Qasba, Al Khan have reported that power was restored in their buildings around 1.38pm.
In Sharjah’s Al Nahda district, residents reported that power came back at 3.26pm.