Hopes for survivors in Greece boat tragedy fades

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD:

 

Amid reports that more than 300 Pakistanis were among those who died after a boat packed with migrants capsized off the coast of Greece last week, hopes for the survivors are fading away.

The death toll in Wednesday’s disaster could top many hundred as witness accounts suggested that 400 to 750 people packed the fishing boat that sank about 50 miles (80km) from the southern Greek town of Pylos.

Greek authorities have said 104 survivors and 78 bodies of the dead were brought ashore in the immediate aftermath. Hopes were fading of finding any more people alive. Most of the people on board were from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan, Greek government officials have said.

According to the latest count, 27 Pakistanis died in the boat mishap whereas 12 survived the disaster. More than 50 Pakistanis are still missing.  The bodies and the survivors have been identified.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration Wing on Saturday arrested an alleged human trafficker, who, the authorities believe, had been involved in smuggling people to Libya, including those who died in the boat accident.

In a statement, the FIA said the suspect was trying to escape to Azerbaijan on an international flight when he was arrested, adding that he had been in hiding for months.

Later, he was handed over to the FIA Gujarat's anti-human trafficking circle wing as he faces a case there.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said 12 Pakistanis were among the survivors. The government, she said, was unable so far to verify the number of Pakistanis who died.

She urged the people whose relatives are missing to share with the ministry their identity documents and DNA reports from authenticated laboratories.

Our mission in Greece also remains in contact with the Greek authorities as they try to identify the 78 recovered bodies. This identification process will take place through DNA-matching with close family members—parents and children only, the spokesperson added.

Families of likely passengers on board the ill-fated boat were requested to share DNA reports from authenticated laboratories and the identity documents of the passenger at ‘info@pakistanembassy.gr’.

Condolences

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his condolences with the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in the unfortunate ferry disaster.

On his Twitter account handle, the PM said, “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.”

National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf urged the government to “immediately investigate” the capsizing of the fishing boat. Expressing his concern, MNA Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali demanded a probe into the matter during the NA session, saying 310 Pakistanis had died in the incident.

Many from AJK

According to several accounts, a number of people from different areas of Azad Kashmir were feared to be among the deceased or missing. Muhammad Mubashir from the Kotli area of Azad Kashmir told BBC Urdu that his uncle and a close relative left for Italy after Ramazan.

They planned to reach Libya from Pakistan and then Italy, said Mubashir, adding that he had been unable to contact his relatives in Libya for the past two days. He added that a number of people from the Kel sector in Kotli left in recent months in hopes of reaching Europe.

A British-Pakistani journalist, Raja Faryad Khan, told BBC that 16 people from his village in Azad Kashmir could have been on the boat. Khan travelled from the UK to the Greek port city of Kalamata to meet his 22-year-old nephew Adnan Bashir, who was one of the survivors.

Another man from Kotli, Maqsood Langrial, told BBC that his five close relatives and two dozen other people from his area are feared to be on the boat. He said two men from his village who survived the crash have said that around 30 people from the area were on board.

One survivor also told doctors in Kalamata that he had seen 100 children in the boat’s hold, broadcaster ERT reported. Police on Thursday arrested nine Egyptians on suspicion of people smuggling — one of them the captain of the boat carrying the migrants.