The 130 passengers stranded after a boat fell near the Tarbela dam in the Haripur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Hazara division was rescued safely, said the attached commissioner.
Haripur’s attached commissioner (DC) Shauzab Abbas said: “All passengers have been successfully rescued.”
Today early, DC Abbas said that a rescue operation was being carried out to bring the passengers stranded back, while they were also being provided with food.
“The operation began at 2 pm and concluded before sunset,” he added.
The Haripur DC said that a 1122 rescue team and a income official participated in the operation, which was being supervised by Haripur’s commissioner, Mohammad Hamza Abbas.
According to the DC, the probable reason for the incident was to overload.
“The owners and boat operators had received clear instructions to comply with the rules and avoid passenger overload,” said Abbas, adding that the maximum number of people allowed on the ship was 70 years old, but was almost twice as many.
The Haripur DC declared that the ship’s operator and his assistant were arrested, adding that a strict legal action against them and the offenders would be taken.
He had promised before that measures would also be taken against the owner of the boat.
On July 3, 2019, at least 38 people, along with the cattle, were aboard a boat that overturned in Haripur Tarbela near Guliman Banda.
While four bodies recovered that day, those of at least 18 other passengers remained without coordinating even a year later. In March 2021, four bodies were found in Lake Tarbela, with officials who suspect they could be among missing persons.
Just after the incident, the record of ships used to transport passengers and luggage or for picnic purposes in Lake Tarbela had been mandatory by the KP government.
He had also ordered the local administration to take measures to ensure that the ships do not violate the load capacity parameters.
