The bodies of 16 Pakistani have been recovered with up to 63 suspicious Pakistanis aboard a ship that overturned the coast of Libya, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FO) said Tuesday.
The incident occurs immediately after a similar tragedy last month in which a boat that transported 80 passengers overturned near Morocco. Although the identities of at least 13 Pakistani in the incident were confirmed, according to reports, the traffickers of African people in the ship murdered more than 40 citizens and only 22 survived the tragedy.
In a statement today, FO said that a team from the Pakistani embassy in Tripoli visited the city of Zawiya and gathered information after meeting with local officials and Zawiya hospital.
“According to unconfirmed reports, there were 63 Pakistani in the boat and so far 16 corpses and their Pakistani nationalities established on the basis of their passports have been recovered.
“There are 3 survivors, including one in the hospital and 33 in police custody. As reported, about 10 Pakistani disappears in the accident. Three of the survivors are in Tripoli and are treated by the embassy, ”said the statement.
The list of names shared by the FO contained details of the bodies recovered so far.
“The Embassy in Tripoli is in the process of collecting more information and maintaining contact with local authorities,” said the statement.
A day before, the FO said that a ‘crisis management unit’ has been activated to monitor the situation.
People were asked for information about their loved ones who contacted the embassy in these numbers: 03052185882, +218913870577 and +218 91-6425435 (WhatsApp).
The Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry can be contacted at 051-9207887.
