Updated 12.08 pm

An Enemalta substation in Rabat caught fire last night, with some residents having to be evacuated from their homes, police have confirmed with Times of Malta. 

The incident occurred at around 10.15 pm on Triq Pierre Muscat in Rabat, when a cable within the substation erupted into flames. 

Police said that residents in nearby homes were evacuated as a precautionary measure, however, no one was injured or needed to be hospitalised, they said. 

Members of the Civil Protection Department, as well as Enemalta staff members, were on site to secure the area. 

Readers who spoke to Times of Malta said that consequently, parts of Rabat were left without power for most of the night and as of Monday morning this had yet to be restored. 

This comes as other localities across Malta reported having no electricity between Sunday night and Monday morning, marking the seventh consecutive night of power cuts leaving swathes of the population unable to get a restful night’s sleep as temperatures continue to soar. 

In a statement on Monday, Enemalta said that the incident occurred because a cable developed a termination fault in the substation and subsequently began to let out smoke.

“The cable’s protection systems immediately isolated the faulty section of the cable, to avoid further damage to the substation,” they said.

“As soon as the fault was identified, substations connected to the same circuit which could be safely re-energised, were switched on again. Meanwhile, repairs of the faulty termination were launched immediately, and electricity supply to the remaining areas was restored during the same night.”