COLOMBO, Oct. 18 -- Sri Lanka restored electricity to most parts of the island by Saturday (17) evening following an island-wide blackout lasting around seven hours, as authorities prepared to launch an expert inquiry into the failure of the national power grid.

Power supplies began returning in stages, with the outage raising fresh concerns over the stability of the national electricity network amid the country's growing reliance on renewable energy.

Ports, Civil Aviation and Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka said the government would appoint a high-powered committee of experts to determine the precise cause of the blackout, identify any technical or operational shortcomings and establish whether the failure could have been prevented...