Karachi: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight escaped a mid-air disaster on Saturday after one of the aeroplane's engines caught fire mid-air, ARY News reported.

ARY News is a Pakistani news channel.

As per initial reports, the plane's engine malfunctioned and caught fire mid-air, shortly after taking off from Karachi for Madina.

The flight captains took control of the situation and managed to extinguish the fire in the engine. After getting permission from the Air Traffic Controller (ATC), the aircraft made an emergency landing at the Karachi Airport, as per ARY News.

All the 276 passengers who boarded the plane were safely evacuated and shifted to a hotel, meanwhile, 92 passengers returned home.

As per a PIA spokesperson, the flight will now depart from Karachi to Madina at 5 pm local time.

Meanwhile, it was recently reported that PIA is grappling with a dire financial crisis, resulting in the grounding of several Boeing 777 aircraft due to insufficient funds for maintenance, as per ARY News.

According to sources, the national flag carrier has grounded four Boeing 777 planes, with an estimated maintenance cost of PKR 31 to PKR 40 million per aircraft.

"PKR 31 to 40 million is required for the maintenance of grounded Boeing 777 aircraft," ARY News reported, citing sources.