Around 67,000 electricity consumers across 10 unions in Barguna Sadar upazila have been without power since Monday night after a fire at a Rural Electrification Board (REB) grid substation damaged key electrical equipment.
The incident occurred at about 10:30pm at the 33/11kV grid substation in Khejurtala under Gaurichanna Union, disrupting electricity supply to thousands of homes and businesses across the area.
According to Mohammad Nazmul Hasan, Deputy General Manager of the Barguna Zonal Office under Patuakhali Palli Bidyut Samity, engineers and technical teams were immediately deployed to assess the damage and begin restoration work.
He said staff at the office heard a loud explosion shortly before the electricity supply failed.
On reaching the substation, technicians found that an 11kV automatic circuit recloser (ACR) had exploded, damaging several electrical components and interrupting power transmission.
No injuries or fatalities were reported.
Repair efforts have been slowed because a replacement component had to be transported from neighbouring Patuakhali. As of midday on Tuesday, electricity had not yet been restored to the affected areas.
Initial assessments suggest the explosion and the subsequent fire may have resulted from an internal technical fault, although officials said the exact cause remains under investigation.
Mohammad Abul Kashem, General Manager of Patuakhali Palli Bidyut Samity, said engineers were continuing repair work on the damaged equipment.
He explained that replacing the faulty component was taking time because it had to be sourced from Patuakhali.
He said the authorities were working to restore electricity as quickly as possible and expected normal power supply to resume by around 5:00pm on Tuesday, provided no further technical issues emerged.
