Two days after a boat full of migrants capsized near the Peloponnese region of Greece, there are fears that a number of Pakistanis are among those missing in the accident. According to the report, the embassy in Athens has confirmed that 78 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the accident while 104 people have survived, including 12 Pakistanis. In a statement issued yesterday, the Pakistani embassy said that they had met with the survivors of the accident, the identities of the dead are still unknown because the bodies are unidentifiable, Greek authorities are using DNA to identify the bodies. A test will be done. The embassy appealed to Pakistanis who suspect their relatives were aboard the boat to send DNA samples for identification. The statement further said that the 'Short Tandem Repeat (STR) DNA Report' of the missing person's identity card or passport number obtained from a reputable laboratory of the parents or children of the person is sent to the Pakistani Embassy's email. should be sent to the address According to various accounts, it is feared that many people belonging to different regions of Azad Kashmir may be among those killed or missing in the accident.
Mohammad Mubasher from Kotli area of Azad Kashmir told BBC Urdu that his uncle and a close relative left for Italy after Ramadan. He had planned to reach Italy and Libya via Pakistan, but it was not possible to contact him for the last 2 days. were Raja Frayad Khan, a British journalist of Pakistani origin, told the BBC that it is feared that 16 people from his village in Azad Kashmir were on board the boat that suffered the accident. Raja Farid Khan traveled from Britain to Kalamata, Greece to meet his 22-year-old nephew Adnan Bashir, who survived the accident. Another person from Kotli, Maqsood Langriyal, told the BBC that it is feared that five of his close relatives and two dozen other people from his area were on board the boat.
He said that 2 people from his village who were among the survivors of the accident said that there were about 30 people from their area on that boat. The exact number of people on board is still unknown, with Greek authorities citing unconfirmed reports that the total number of people on board could be as high as 750. A survivor of the accident told doctors in Kalamata that he had seen 100 children in the boat, broadcaster ERT reported. After the accident, police on June 15 arrested nine Egyptians on suspicion of being human traffickers, one of whom was the captain of the boat that was carrying the migrants.
Contradictory statements
While the events that led to the tragedy are still unclear, the Greek Coast Guard and government officials say a surveillance plane from Europe's Frontex agency spotted the stricken boat on Tuesday (June 13) afternoon. Since then their boats and nearby cargo ships have been keeping an eye on it. He said the boat stopped briefly to get food and water, but a man on board insisted that nothing more was needed and that those on board wanted to continue on to Italy. At 10:40 a.m. local time, the boat's crew reported engine failure, the Coast Guard said, adding that a nearby patrol boat immediately attempted to reach the boat to investigate the problem. 24 minutes later the captain of the patrol boat radioed that the boat had capsized, and within 15 minutes the boat had sunk. However, questions are being raised as to whether the Greek Coast Guard should have acted in time to safely rescue the old boat full of people, with claims that the Coast Guard should have pulled the boat too fast with a rope. had tried
Government spokesman Elias Siakantaris confirmed yesterday that a rope had been thrown to keep the boat balanced, but the migrants had refused.
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