Greece boat tragedy: At least 209 Pakistanis among those on board, data suggests

KARACHI - There were at least 209 Pakistani “victims” on an overloaded boat that

capsized and sank in open seas off Greece last week,

according to data shared by a Pakistani investigative agency with Reuters on Thursday.

The figure of 209 is based on information provided by families who came forward to say a relative of theirs had boarded the

boat heading from Libya towards Greece

and was still missing, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said.

The

official death toll from the accident

still stands at 82 and the number of survivors at 104, of whom 12 were Pakistanis.

“An investigation to verify this is under way,” FIA Islamabad zone director Rana Abdul Jabbar told Reuters.

The FIA has been tasked by the Pakistan government with handling investigations into the tragedy.

Hundreds of people from different countries are believed to have been on board the vessel, in what is seen as the

worst sea disaster in years

for the region.

Pakistan has yet to officially confirm how many of its citizens were on the boat, but kick-started a DNA sampling effort to help Greece identify those who died.

The data shared by the FIA showed that 181 people were from Pakistan and 28 from Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Officials gathered the DNA samples from 201 families.

Witness accounts suggested that between 400 and 750 people had crammed onto the 20m-long to 30m-long fishing boat, which then capsized and sank early on June 14 about 80km from the southern coastal town of Pylos.

The FIA said

29 suspected human smugglers had been arrested

in Pakistan so far over the case. REUTERS