Islamabad, Jun. 23, (dpa/GNA) – An estimated 350 Pakistanis were on board a boat that sank off the Greek coast last week while carrying migrants via an irregular route to Europe, the country’s interior minister said on Friday.
Most of the people from Pakistan are presumed dead now because only 12 out of more than 100 who had been rescued were from the South Asian nation, Rana Sanaullah said in parliament.
At least 82 bodies of Pakistanis had been recovered and identified so far, Sanaullah told lawmakers in the capital Islamabad.
The government was conducting DNA testing to ascertain the identity of the remaining nationals. More than 250 families had claimed their loved ones were still missing.
More than 700 migrants from Pakistan, Syria, Libya and the Palestinian Territories were on board the boat when the shipwreck happened last week.
Pakistan observed a day of national mourning on Monday and had launched a crackdown on human traffickers after the tragedy.
Around two dozen suspects – including those allegedly behind sending people onto the boat – had been arrested so far and were being interrogated, the minister added.
More than half a million Pakistanis pay millions of rupees to human traffickers and risk their lives to reach Europe through the dangerous routes of Iran, Turkey, Libya, Greece and Italy every year.
An economic crisis, triggered by high energy prices and aggravated by devastating flooding last year, has forced more people from impoverished families to take on the horrific voyages.
GNA