Hopes for those who survived the Greek boat disaster dwindle
FO requests that families provide DNA test results to help with the identification procedure.
Hopes for the survivors are dwindling amid allegations that more than 300 Pakistanis were among the victims when a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Greece last week.
As reported by eyewitnesses, the fishing boat that sank approximately 50 miles (80 km) from the southern Greek town of Pylos was crammed with 400 to 750 persons, raising the possibility that the death toll from the accident on Wednesday will exceed a hundred.
According to Greek authorities, 104 survivors and 78 remains of the dead were brought ashore as soon as possible. The likelihood of finding any more living persons was dwindling. Egyptian, Syrian, and Pakistani nationals made up the majority of the passengers, according to Greek government sources.
By the most recent count, 12 Pakistanis were among the disaster’s survivors whereas 27 Pakistanis perished in the boat accident. There are still around 50 Pakistanis missing. Both the deceased and the living have been named.
An alleged human trafficker was detained on Saturday by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Immigration Wing. The officials believe that this individual was responsible for smuggling victims of the boat accident to Libya.
The FIA claimed in a statement that the suspect had been hiding out for months and was caught trying to board a plane bound for Azerbaijan.
He was afterwards transferred to the FIA Gujarat’s anti-human trafficking circular branch to defend himself in court.
12 Pakistanis were among the survivors, according to Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a spokesperson for the Foreign Office. She claimed that the administration had not yet been able to confirm how many Pakistanis perished.
She advised anyone whose relatives were missing to give the ministry copies of their identification cards and DNA results from recognized labs.
The Greek authorities are still in touch with our team in Greece as they work to identify the 78 dead that have been found. The spokesman further stated that this identifying procedure would only involve parents and children for DNA matching with immediate family members.
Families of possible boat passengers were asked to send DNA test results from recognized laboratories and the passenger’s identification documents to “info@pakistanembassy.gr.”
Condolences
The bereaved families who lost loved ones in the tragic ferry catastrophe received the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s condolences.
The Prime Minister posted: “My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in the unfortunate ferry disaster in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Greece.” on his Twitter profile.
Raja Pervez Ashraf, speaker of the National Assembly, requested the administration to “immediately investigate” the capsizing of the fishing boat. During the NA session, MNA Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali expressed his concern and urged an investigation into the situation, claiming 310 Pakistanis had killed in the tragedy.
several from AJK
Several reports indicated that a number of people from various parts of Azad Kashmir were suspected to be among the dead or missing. According to Muhammad Mubashir of Kotli, Azad Kashmir, who spoke to BBC Urdu, his uncle and a close relative went for Italy following Ramadan.
According to Mubashir, who added that he had been unable to reach his family members in Libya for the previous two days, they intended to travel to Libya from Pakistan before continuing on to Italy. He continued by saying that several residents of Kotli’s Kel area recently fled in an effort to travel to Europe.
According to Raja Faryad Khan, a British-Pakistani journalist, there may have been 16 residents of Faryad Khan’s hamlet in Azad Kashmir on the boat. Khan made the trip from the UK to Kalamata, a port city in Greece, to meet his nephew Adnan Bashir, 22, one of the survivors.
Another Kotli resident, Maqsood Langrial, told the BBC that he believes the boat to be carrying twenty other locals, including five of his close relatives. According to two individuals from his community who survived the disaster, there were about 30 locals on board.
According Greek broadcaster ERT, one survivor also described seeing 100 children in the boat’s hold to doctors in Kalamata. On Thursday, police detained nine Egyptians, including the boat’s skipper, on suspicion of smuggling migrants.
