Experts cite poor governance and inadequate investment in the system ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government is launching an investigation into a major power breakdown that plunged much of the country into darkness on Saturday. The blackout was reported a little before midnight on social media across the country, including the capital, Islamabad, the second-largest city, Lahore, and the economic hub of Karachi. Power was gradually being restored to major cities in the early hours of Sunday. “We will have an independent inquiry to find out the cause behind this major power breakdown,” Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan told reporters. “A technical fault tripped the transmission system of the whole country. Our teams are deployed in the field to locate it,” the minister said. “We will have to physically check each electricity pylon and transmission system; therefore, it may take some time.” The electricity distribution system in the nation of about 220 million people is a complex and delicate web, and a problem in one section of the grid can lead to cascading breakdowns countrywide. Experts cite poor governance and inadequate investment in the system. The country’s power generation capacity is about 36,000 megawatts, but it can transfer only 24,000 megawatts across the country due to poor transmission lines. This was Pakistan’s second major power breakdown in less than three years. In 2015, a suspected rebel attack on a key power line plunged 80 percent of the country into darkness.