ISLAMABAD: A recent boat tragedy near the port of Marsa Dela in Libya has resulted in the death of 16 Pakistanis, with several others still missing, the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that a team from the Embassy of Pakistan in Tripoli visited Zawiya City, where the boat capsized, and gathered crucial information regarding the incident after meeting the local officials.
“According to unconfirmed reports, there were 63 Pakistanis on the boat and so far 16 dead bodies have been recovered and their Pakistani nationalities established on the basis of their passports,” the FO said.
The authorities learnt that around 10 Pakistanis were missing in the accident, while 37 survivors including 1 in hospital and 33 were in police custody. Three of the survivors are in Tripoli and being looked after by the Embassy.
The dead Pakistani nationals, identified through Pakistani passports, include Saqlain Haider, Siraj Uddin, Shoaib Hussain, Nusrat Hussain, Shoaib Ali, Sayed Shehzad Hussain, Abid Hussain, Asif Ali, Muhammad Ali Shah, Musawir Hussain, Aswar Hussain, Abid Hussain, Musaib Hussain, Anis Khan, Ashfaq Hussain, and Shahid Hussain.
“The Embassy in Tripoli is gathering further information and maintaining contact with the local authorities,” the statement said.
The development came a day after the Foreign Office said a vessel carrying around 65 passengers capsized near the Marsa Dela port and Pakistan’s embassy in Libya was seeking details of Pakistani affectees.
The development follows a similar incident last month in which a boat carrying 80 passengers capsized near Morocco. While the identities of at least 13 Pakistanis killed in the incident were confirmed, over 40 Pakistanis were reportedly murdered by African human traffickers on the boat and only 22 survived the tragedy.
