A country in the dark. More than 200 million people have been without electricity since the nationwide breakdown

“The sharp fall in the frequency of the power transmission system caused a national malfunction,” Pakistani Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan said on Twitter. He urged the people of the country to remain calm.

According to an initial report by the Ministry of Energy, the Kudu thermal power plant in Sindh province in southern Pakistan has failed, causing power outages across the country.

In Karachi, witnesses said they saw long queues at gas stations as people rushed to buy petrol for home generators.

“There are long lines outside the city’s gas pumps. People are waiting for hours with gas cans in hand,” said Akbar Saifi, a resident of Karachi.

Efforts are now underway to restore energy in various parts of the country. Large areas of Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, are still without electricity, according to information shared by the city’s energy supplier K-Electric.

On Sunday, at 6:44 pm local time, Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan wrote on Twitter that electricity had been restored in most parts of the capital Islamabad.

Power outages are not uncommon in Pakistan, where most hospitals, airports and other major companies have their own generators. For centuries people have had gas generators in their homes.