HARIPUR: A motorboat caught fire in the Khanpur reservoir, police and witnesses said here on Sunday.

The boat was carrying some students, who luckily escaped unhurt, picnickers said.

However, the police denied the boat was carrying any picnicker when the heavy flames engulfed it due to some mechanical fault. “Not a single picnicker was onboard the boat when it caught fire,” the Khanpur police officials said.

Masood Khan, a tourist from Rawalpindi, told mediapersons that about eight students were enjoying boat ride when the boat’s engine developed some mechanical fault and started belching flames.

“All of a sudden heavy flames engulfed the motorboat. However, the boatmen, who witnessed the accident, rushed to the boat and shifted the students and the boatman to the reservoir’s bank safely,” he said.

The tourist confirmed that all the students and boatman remained unhurt.

When contacted, the Khanpur police officials and rescuers confirmed that a motorboat was burnt in the middle of the reservoir, but there was not a single passenger onboard it.

They said the boatman was busy in a test drive after some repair work when it caught fire.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2023