Prnjavor Power Cut: Beaver Gnaws Through Six Cables
A fault on the Strpci power line has left about 1,600 users in Prnjavor and Stanari without electricity, with the cables buried beneath the Banja Luka-Doboj motorway.
About 1,600 users in Prnjavor and the municipality of Stanari, in Republika Srpska, have been without power since Sunday evening. According to Elektrokrajina, the cause is a beaver that chewed through all six underground cables on a single medium-voltage power line. The fault began on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at 9:30 p.m., and repairs were still under way on Monday afternoon.
Who lost power?
The outage affects everyone supplied from the Strpci power line, from the village of the same name in Prnjavor to settlements in the municipality of Stanari. Households and other consumers are affected, N1 BiH reports. Outlets do not agree on the name of the village at the far end of the line: RTRS mentions Brstovo, while N1 BiH names Brestovo and Mitrovice. Index.hr, which carried the statement, says “more than 1,600” users are without power, while RTRS and N1 BiH put the figure at 1,600.
Where did the beaver do the damage?
The damaged section runs beneath the Banja Luka-Doboj motorway. In a statement carried by RTRS, Elektrokrajina said: “The fault on the medium-voltage power line last night at 21:30 was caused by a large rodent.” According to the same statement, the animal cut through all six underground cables on that section.
Crews on the ground managed to photograph the animal next to the damaged cables, Index.hr writes. N1 BiH reports that Elektrokrajina’s field crews in Prnjavor describe the fault as complex, because it sits on the underground part of the line.
Why is the repair taking so long?
The cables are buried under the motorway, so access to the section is harder than with overhead lines, according to N1 BiH. Replacing underground cables requires heavy construction machinery, which, Elektrokrajina said, slowed down the repair and the return of regular supply. The company asked all users of the Strpci line for patience and understanding.
When will the power come back?
No deadline was available in the first reports: N1 BiH earlier said that no time for the end of work or the return of power had been given, and put that detail in its headline. RTRS then reported at 3:22 p.m. that electricity is expected to return by 5 p.m.
The sources do not say whether the fault damaged any other equipment, or how much replacing six cables will cost. Index.hr reports that the repair will not be simple precisely because the damaged cables lie under the motorway, and replacing them requires heavy construction machines.
