Another boat capsizes off the coast of Libya, taking the lives of three Pakistanis.
The Foreign Office has confirmed that two people were killed in the tragedy in Italy. Two Pakistanis and a Turk were arrested.
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that at least three Pakistani nationals perished in a second boat accident this week, two days after the tragedy off the southern Italian coast that claimed 64 lives, including numerous Pakistanis.
On February 26, the night the wooden sailboat carrying migrants from numerous nations, including Pakistan, smashed against the rocks off the southern Calabria region of Italy, the latest boat catastrophe occurred in the Libyan waters near Benghazi.
Three Pakistani people drowned in a boat accident close to Benghazi, Libya, in [a] terrible tragedy. Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokeswoman for the foreign office, stated that the [Pakistan Embassy] is helping the process of transporting the lifeless remains to Pakistan.
According to Baloch, the occurrence is distinct from the Italian shipwreck. In a later tweet, she continued, “We can confirm that two Pakistanis have lost their life in the unfortunate tragedy… off the coast of Italy.”
Another Pakistani national had been discovered alive, raising the total number of Pakistani survivors to 17, according to Baloch. There were 20 Pakistanis on the boat, according to the Pakistan Embassy authorities, and 16 of them were alive.
The death toll has risen to 64, according to Italian police, who also said that the search is still ongoing for up to 60 others who may still be missing. The Afghan authorities contested the findings, stating that 80 of their people had perished.
The coffins of the victims who have been discovered so far were arranged in a Crotone, a southern city, indoor sports stadium, with small white caskets for the infants and brown wooden ones for the others.
A Turkish guy and two Pakistani nationals, according to Lt. Col. Alberto Lippolis, the head of a finance police unit in the Calabria region, managed to sail the yacht from Turkey to Italy despite the horrible weather.
According to Lippolis, survivors named them as “the major perpetrators of the disaster.” He continued, “According to preliminary investigations, they are said to have demanded the migrants pay roughly 8,000 euros ($8,485) each for the dangerous trek.
All three [suspects] have been detained, according to Lippolis. According to a legal source, one of the Pakistanis was a kid, and Turkish police were searching for a fourth suspect.
In rough seas early on Sunday, the boat ran aground and disintegrated close to the Italian town of Steccato di Cutro. 64 dead have already been found, including 14 youngsters. Almost 80 people have survived.
