All 130 passengers stranded after a boat ran aground near Tarbela Dam in the Haripur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hazara Division were rescued safely, the deputy commissioner said.

Haripur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shauzab Abbas said, “All passengers have been rescued successfully.”

Earlier today, DC Abbas said that a rescue operation was underway to bring back the stranded passengers, while food was also being provided to them.

“The operation started at 2pm and concluded before sunset,” he added.

The Haripur DC said a Rescue 1122 team and a revenue official took part in the operation, which was being supervised by Haripur Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Hamza Abbas.

According to the DC, the likely reason for the incident was overloading.

“Boat owners and operators had been clearly instructed to abide by the rules and avoid overloading of passengers,” Abbas said, adding that the maximum number of people permitted on the vessel was 70, but it was carrying nearly double that number.

The Haripur DC stated the boat operator and his helper were taken into custody, adding that strict legal action would be taken against them and the violators.

He had vowed earlier that action would also be taken against the boat owner.

On July 3, 2019, at least 38 people, along with cattle, were on board a boat that capsized in Haripur’s Tarbela Lake near Guliman Banda.

While four bodies were recovered that day, those of at least 18 other passengers remained untraced even a year later. In March 2021, four bodies were found in the Tarbela Lake, with officials suspecting they could be from among those missing individuals.

Right after the incident, the registration of boats used for transporting passengers and luggage or for picnic purposes in Tarbela Lake had been made mandatory by the KP government.

It had also ordered the local administration to take steps to ensure that boats did not violate the load capacity parameters.