Sharjah power outage: Watch how delivery riders guide cars as traffic lights fail
On Sunday afternoon, several areas of Sharjah experienced a temporary electricity outage, disrupting daily life for residents and businesses. The outage, which began around noon, affected neighbourhoods including Al Majaz and Al Taawun, as well as Jamal Abdul Nasser Street and surrounding residential and commercial areas.Technical teams responded promptly, and power has since been fully restored. Officials have attributed the outage to a localised technical fault and confirmed that normal operations have resumed.However, it wasn’t just the residents at home, supermarket or at the ATMs who were affected by the blackout — the outage also disabled the traffic signals, temporarily impacting motorists. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.During this time, a few good Samaritans dropped everything to help manage traffic at a major junction, ensuring a smooth flow of vehicles without confusion on the streets or the risk of accidents.Videos shared with Khaleej Times show delivery drivers in their colourful uniforms standing in the middle of the road as they signal vehicles from all four sides. Watch them in action below:Their uniforms revealed that the riders were from companies like Smile, Noon and Keeta, who came together and were stationed across the junction, guiding motorists and pedestrians during the sunny afternoon. School buses and taxis were among the vehicles.This is not the first time a rider has stepped up to safeguard the community. In 2024, a Talabat rider was rewarded for fixing a dangling traffic light on Dubai's Al Wasl Street, unaware that his service to the community was recorded on camera. Worried that the dangling light might hit a pedestrian or another driver, he quickly parked his bike and attempted to fix it on the windy day.Meanwhile, an official told Khaleej Times that today's electricity disruption was caused by a localised emergency fault in the power network, which triggered the automatic activation of protection systems designed to safeguard grid stability and prevent the fault from spreading to wider areas.Power outages are rare in the UAE. When isolated outages do occur due to technical faults or maintenance issues, services are typically restored swiftly, with authorities citing strong grid resilience, automatic protection systems and rapid-response teams as key factors in limiting disruptions.Electricity fully restored in Sharjah after power outage due to emergency faultPower failure in some Sharjah areas halts government services, ATM operationsDubai rains: Residents urged to take safety measures against electricity outages
On Sunday afternoon, several areas of Sharjah experienced a temporary electricity outage, disrupting daily life for residents and businesses. The outage, which began around noon, affected neighbourhoods including Al Majaz and Al Taawun, as well as Jamal Abdul Nasser Street and surrounding residential and commercial areas.
Technical teams responded promptly, and power has since been fully restored. Officials have attributed the outage to a localised technical fault and confirmed that normal operations have resumed.
However, it wasn’t just the residents at home, supermarket or at the ATMs who were affected by the blackout — the outage also disabled the traffic signals, temporarily impacting motorists.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
During this time, a few good Samaritans dropped everything to help manage traffic at a major junction, ensuring a smooth flow of vehicles without confusion on the streets or the risk of accidents.
Videos shared with Khaleej Times show delivery drivers in their colourful uniforms standing in the middle of the road as they signal vehicles from all four sides.
Watch them in action below:
Their uniforms revealed that the riders were from companies like Smile, Noon and Keeta, who came together and were stationed across the junction, guiding motorists and pedestrians during the sunny afternoon. School buses and taxis were among the vehicles.
This is not the first time a rider has stepped up to safeguard the community. In 2024, a Talabat rider was rewarded for fixing a dangling traffic light on Dubai's Al Wasl Street, unaware that his service to the community was recorded on camera. Worried that the dangling light might hit a pedestrian or another driver, he quickly parked his bike and attempted to fix it on the windy day.
Meanwhile, an official told Khaleej Times that today's electricity disruption was caused by a localised emergency fault in the power network, which triggered the automatic activation of protection systems designed to safeguard grid stability and prevent the fault from spreading to wider areas.
Power outages are rare in the UAE. When isolated outages do occur due to technical faults or maintenance issues, services are typically restored swiftly, with authorities citing strong grid resilience, automatic protection systems and rapid-response teams as key factors in limiting disruptions.
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