Fire at Shahjibazar power station doused, outage affects 5 lakh in Habiganj

A fire that broke out at the 33/11 kV switching station of Shahjibazar Power Generation Plant in Habiganj this evening has been doused.

The fire originated in the current transformer (CT) and breaker unit around 7:30pm, according to power station officials.

The fire was extinguished at 8:30pm, said Chayon Kanti Sen, assistant sub-engineer of Habiganj Power Development Board. He added that it will take time to repair the damaged equipment

Due to the incident, around 500,000 people in the district have been left without electricity, he added.

Mizan, a staff member at Shahjibazar Power Plant, told this correspondent that the fire erupted suddenly, disrupting power supply to the entire district, including the Habiganj Power Supply Center and rural electrification lines.

On information, a team from the Shayestaganj Fire Service rushed to the scene and doused the blaze.

"Firefighters responded quickly and extinguished the flames, but power remains out across the district. Our engineers and technical staff are working urgently to restore power supply," Mizan said.

Executive Engineer of the Habiganj Power Division, Manjurul Murshed, said an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire. He added, "We are trying our best to restore electricity as soon as possible, but it is difficult to provide a specific timeline at this moment."