Bangladesh plunges into power blackout after grid failure

Electricity supply across Bangladesh has been restored after the South Asian country plunged into a blackout following the failure of its national power grid.

The blackout, which impacted much of the country, started at 2.05 pm on Tuesday and lasted for nearly seven hours before power was completely restored at 9 p.m. It was not immediately clear what caused the glitch.

Many large shopping malls in the capital, Dhaka, closed early on Tuesday evening. Elsewhere, people gathered at fuel stations to collect diesel to run standby generators and market vendors operated amid candlelight.

All power plants tripped and electricity was cut in Dhaka and other big cities.

Bangladesh's recent impressive economic growth has been threatened by power shortages since the government suspended operations of all diesel-run power plants to reduce costs for imports as prices have soared.