A Dingli resident was left distraught after his two prized koi fish, worth at least €1000 each, died after being left without oxygen due to the continued power outages.  

"Each time the power goes out, fish die,” said Anthony Abela Medici, telling Times of Malta that the power cuts had left the pump - that should have been supplying oxygen to the tank - without electricity for seven hours.  

Abela Medici discovered the dead fish shortly before 6am after getting up to check on them at sunrise, having had no access to electric lighting during the night.  

Both fish – one red and another white – were around 40 years old and each worth at least €1,000, he said. 

“The white one was floating on the surface at daylight... the red one was too far gone to bring her back,” he said, adding that the remaining fish in the tank were found “gulping air from the surface.” 

With the power still out and around 15 other fish still experiencing difficulties, the 74-year-old had tried to oxygenate the tank manually by continually pouring buckets of water into the tank.

Speaking on Thursday morning, Abela Medici said he was “exhausted” and could “barely walk” after the night spent working to try to save the fish, and expressed anger at Enemalta over the outage. It is the second time Abela Medici lost his fish to power outages, the last being in 2021. 

The company had sent numerous text messages throughout the night about the issue, he said, including two informing him that restoring electricity to his area would take longer than expected due to "unexpected difficulties."

Wednesday night saw another wave of power outages across the country as heatwave Cerberus continued to drive soaring temperatures. 

Enemalta, Malta's sole energy supplier, has come under fire from the public for the repeated problems, with some localities left without power for three nights in a row. 

In a statement posted to its Facebook page on Thursday morning, the company said it was "doing everything possible" to restore power. 

On Thursday afternoon, the temperature across the country was registered as feeling at 42 degrees, according to the Meteorological Office. 

As temperatures rise, both the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate and members of the public have raised awareness about the dangers to pets from the heat. 

Animals such as dogs and cats should not be left in unventilated cars, the directorate warned, while animal enthusiasts have taken to social media to remind people to leave water out for birds.