Most parts of Sylhet and Sunamganj districts plunged into darkness last night after engineers failed to restore electricity supply from Kumargaon Power Plant after a fire.

People also experienced power cut almost throughout the day yesterday. 

The fire broke out at the 132/33KV power station in Sylhet sadar upazila around 11:00am, snapping the supply. Seven fire engines doused the flames after two hours, said Kobal Ali Sarkar, in-charge of Fire Service and Civil Defence in Sylhet.

The connection could not be restored when this report was filed around 8:30pm.

In the meantime, people in those areas suffered badly. Many took to the social media to vent their anger. Some advised others to store water, apprehending that the electricity supply might not be restored soon.

Contacted, Khandker Mokammel Hossain, additional chief engineer at Power Development Board (PDB) in Sylhet, told The Daily Star that they suspected some transformers caught fire. "We're working hard to restore the supply. But it is hard to say when we will be able to fix it," he said.

He also said the power supply to Sylhet and Sunamganj depends on the power plant. "There is no alternative source of power generation here," he said.

Sylhet's Deputy Commissioner M Kazi Emdadul Islam said, "The whole district is out of electricity and we are uncertain when we can restore it."

A probe body will also be formed to investigate the cause of the fire, he said.

The power plant is looked after by Power Grid Company of Bangladesh. Contacted, a chief engineer of the PGCB said they were trying to restore power partially. "I hope within one or two hours, we'll be able to restore power partially through two transformers," he said.

Soon after the incident, the PGCB formed a four-member probe committee to find out the reason behind the fire, he added.