Greece dinghy disaster: 13 dead Pakistanis identified; 12 Kotli family members still missing

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2023-06-17T07:28:31+05:00 News Desk

More than a dozen Pakistanis who died in the Greece dinghy disaster earlier in the week, have been identified while a dozen family members are still missing.

According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, 10 residents of the Manawala district and three of the Wazirabad district in Punjab were among the dead.

Two of the deceased – Ali Hasnain and Aurangzeb – are from Ilabad and the third is from Cheema Colony of Wazirabad district.

They were too among several travellers dreaming of a better future in Europe against all odds.

Twelve members of a family from Kotli have been missing since the migrant boat sank off Wednesday.

According to sources, two dozen migrants belong to Kotli.

The ages of the missing persons are stated to be from 18 to 35 years. The alleged human trafficker is too from Kotli

The relatives of missing people have been making a litany of complaints to the authorities concerned but to no avail.

Civil society activists staged a protest against the government for its failure to lasso human smugglers.

Greek rescuers on Friday scanned the Ionian Sea by air and boat for survivors of a migrant boat sinking, as hope faded of finding more people alive two days after the disaster.

Earlier in the ongoing week, a fishing boat overloaded with migrants capsized and sank, killing at least 78 people, off the Peloponnese. Some 104 people were found alive.

The exact number of people aboard the boat is unknown, with one survivor telling hospital doctors in Kalamata he had seen 100 children in the boat's hold, broadcaster ERT reported.

"Hopes of finding survivors are fading each minute after this tragic sinking, but the search must continue," Stella Nanou, a spokesperson for the UNHCR told a foreign news agency.

"According to broadcast images and accounts of some of the survivors, hundreds of people were aboard," she said.

The Greek coast guard said that rescuers scoured the sea through the night.

A helicopter, a frigate and three boats were scanning the waters Friday, a Coastguard spokesperson said.

Police on Thursday arrested nine Egyptians including a boat captain on suspicion of human trafficking.

They were detained at the port of Kalamata, where the survivors are being cared for, said Greek news agency ANA.

The survivors, mainly from Syria, Egypt and Pakistan, were being housed in a Kalamata warehouse.

Greece, Italy and Spain are among the main landing points for tens of thousands of people who seek to reach Europe as they flee conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

 

 

 

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