Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed grief over the death of four Pakistani nationals in a boat capsizing incident in Libya, reiterating his government’s commitment to act against human traffickers, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
In a post uploaded on his X timeline on Wednesday, the prime minister said “Deeply saddened by reports from our Mission in Tripoli of yet another boat capsizing incident off the Harawa coast near Sirte City, Eastern Libya, in which at least four Pakistanis have been confirmed dead out of 11 casualties.”
Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan’s Mission in Tripoli and the Foreign Office were working with the local authorities to retrieve the remains of the deceased. “While we are taking strong action against those responsible for luring our citizens into this death trap, we will continue to come down hard against such elements so no family has to carry the coffins of their loved ones in such accidents,” he reiterated.
Earlier, the Foreign Office, in a statement, said that among the Pakistani nationals killed in the boat tragedy were: Zahid Mehmood s/o Liaqat Ali, a resident of Gujranwala with passport No. LY0161441, and three residents of a Mandi Bahauddin including Sameer Ali s/o Raja Abdul Qadeer (passport No. RS1825681), Syed Ali Hussain s/o Shafqat ul Hussnain (Passport No. JG6912511) and Asif Ali s/o Nazar Muhammad (Passport No. RS1825681).
The foreign ministry has also activated its Crisis Management Unit to monitor the situation. For any assistance and information, people can contact at:
Phone No: 051-9207887
Email: cmu1@mofa.gov.pk
Emergency contact details at the Embassy:
Ashique Ali, HOC: +92-305-2185882
Hassan Saleem, PRO: +218-91-8644064