Jordan power cut blamed on 'large bird standing on network line'
The general director of Jordan's National Electricity Company said on Sunday that a "large bird" may have been behind power outages across the kingdom last Friday.
Addressing the Parliamentary Energy Committee on Monday, Amjad al-Rawashdeh said there were many possible reasons for the blackout, including the entry or exit of a load on the current, or that "a large bird stood on the network line".
Stay informed with MEE's newsletters
Sign up to get the latest alerts, insights and analysis, starting with Turkey Unpacked
The widespread power cut on Friday afternoon also affected the country's water supply and phone networks, state and local media reported.
At the time, the outage was blamed on an "electrical line interruption" with Egypt, according to an official source quoted by the state Petra news agency.
The agency quoted a source as saying the power cut was caused by the experimental loading of electricity onto the Attar station network, which led to a difference in the electrical frequency in the network and caused an automatic shutdown at all power stations.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
