ISLAMABAD: At least five Pakistanis were among the people who lost their lives in two different capsized boat incidents off Southern Italy and Libya.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, on her Twitter handle, on Tuesday announced that they could confirm with great sorrow that two Pakistanis had lost their lives in the tragic incident of a boat capsized off the coast of Italy, as identified by their families.
“However, another Pakistani national has Alhamdulillah been found among survivors the in same incident, bringing total Pakistani survivors to 17,” she further posted.
The spokesperson said the Embassy of Pakistan in Italy remained engaged with the authorities to assist in the matter. The embassy officials had met survivors and were in contact with the Italian authorities as well, she further added in her tweet.
While in a related tweet, she posted that in an earlier, separate tragic incident, three Pakistani nationals perished in a boat wreck near Benghazi, Libya.
The Pakistan embassy in Libya was facilitating the process of transportation of the mortal remains to Pakistan, she added.
According to BBC at least 63 migrants were confirmed to have died, with 12 children including a baby said to be among the victims after the vessel, thought to have carried some 200 people, broke apart while trying to land near Crotone, Italy on February 26.
On board, there were people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Iran, the report claimed. More than 170 migrants were estimated to have been aboard the ship, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration said in a joint statement.
Among them were children and entire families with most of the passengers from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia, the report said.
