Pakistan mourns ‘hundreds’ lost in Greece boat tragedy

Kathmandu: Pakistan is mourning the death of hundreds of its citizens in migrant boat tragedy off Greece.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday announced a high-level investigation to trace the human traffickers behind the incident and declared a national day of mourning on Monday.

‘Tomorrow, the national flag will fly on half-mast and special prayers would be offered for the deceased,’ a press release issued by the PM’s Office said. The four-member committee would submit a report in a week. ‘The number of casualties is being still ascertained,’ the statement said.

The inquiry committee would ascertain facts of the boat tragedy and identify loopholes in the enforcement mechanism that exposed Pakistanis to the ‘vagaries of human trafficking in this particular case’.

At least 400 Pakistanis, 200 Egyptians and 150 Syrians, including around two dozen Syrian women and young children, were travelling on the trawler, according to the initial information shared by survivors of the shipwreck.

More than 100 people lost their lives and hundreds remain missing after the ship sank off the coast of Greece on Wednesday.

The traffickers charged more than Rs2 million from each Pakistani individual in return for their illegal passage to Europe, Dawn News reported.

The police said as per the information obtained from ‘sub-agents’, aspirants were ‘legally flown’ to the UAE, Egypt, and Libya from where they would embark on the dangerous voyage.