Entire country left in the dark by massive breakdown.

ISLAMABAD -- Millions of citizens were left without power on Monday after a massive breakdown hit the fragile national grid in the morning and kept almost the entire country without electricity until late in the night.

Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir said on Monday night, more than 12 hours after the breakdown occurred, that officials had begun restoring electricity across the country. Power was beginning to return in parts Islamabad and Balochistan, he said.

The minister had earlier said that electricity across the country would be fully restored by 10pm on Monday after the breakdown - triggered by 'frequency variation' in the national grid - hit Pakistan.

In an interview with Geo News earlier, Mr Dastgir said the breakdown was not 'major'. He said, 'In winter, the demand for electricity reduces nationwide, hence, as an economic measure, we temporarily close down our power generation systems at night.

'However, when the systems were turned on in the morning today, frequency variation and voltage fluctuation was observed in the south of the country [...] somewhere between Dadu and Jamshoro...