Engineers are almost certain the explosion at the Marsa power station that plunged the country into darkness on Wednesday was caused by a fault and there was nothing sinister behind it.

Sabotage was strongly hinted at as the cause of the explosion by government officials shortly after the incident occurred.

However, engineers who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity were dismissive of the whole sabotage theory, insisting "it was possible" for switchgear technology to fail.

"It is next to impossible for somebody to sabotage the apparatus apart from the fact that it is very dangerous to even be in the room where it is situated," they said, insisting switchgears were operational 24 hours a day and prone to failure.

They also dismissed the coincidental connection made between the explosion and the television interview with Enemalta's chairman Alex Tranter the night before, insisting the corporation was constantly in the news and anyone wanting to make such a sinister link could do so every day.

Mr Tranter had said: "I understand press reports have observed that this is not the first time we had a power cut because of a fault at the Marsa power station while Enemalta was being discussed on television or in Parliament."

Last June, when the plant broke down twice on the same day, a similar coincidental connection was made with the fact that Enemalta's accounts were being discussed in Parliament.

Mr Tranter's comments were condemned by the General Workers' Union, which said he had implied sabotage by the employees. Enemalta later said Mr Tranter had not referred to anybody.

A magisterial inquiry and a police investigation are under way to discover the cause of the blast.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com