RAWALPINDI, Sept 24: The bodies of eight Pakistanis, who drowned in a river while trying to cross into Greece from Turkey earlier this month, arrived here early on Wednesday morning.

The bodies were flown aboard a PIA flight (PK-708) which landed here at 4.35am. Relatives and next of kin of the deceased were present at the airport to receive the bodies.

Touching scenes were witnessed when the bodies were handed over to the relatives. These young men had left the country to seek better employment opportunities in the West after paying hefty amounts to travel agents.

The bodies were identified as those of Nadeem Abbas (Gujrat), Ashfaq (Gujrat), Amjad Hussain (Sarai Alamgir), Mohammad Mazhar (Gujrat), Wajid Hussain (Gujrat), Barkat Ali (Gujrat), Sajjad Haider (Lahore) and Waqas Ahmed (Abbottabad).

The bodies, along with 17 others of Asian origin, had been recovered on September 10 from the banks of River Evros, marking the border between Greece and Turkey.

The identification of the bodies, which were decomposed, had been done by the Pakistan embassy in Athens with the assistance of the forensic department of the Alexandroupolis University Hospital.

It is believed that the overloaded boat, on which they were attempting to illegally enter Greece, had capsized.

However, wreckage of the boat has not been recovered so far. The accident occurred some time in the first week of this month.