GUJRAT: Four of the 15 people who were killed in Kech district of Balochistan on Tuesday, were from different areas of Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin districts.

The bereaved families of the victims told the media that their loved ones had left their homes a few days ago to reach Europe after illegally crossing the borders of Iran and Turkey with the help of a human trafficking network being run at Phalia tehsil of Mandi Bahauddin.

One of the victims, Saifullah, 39, belonged to Dhab village situated in Tanda area of the district. He had left two children and a wife to mourn, besides five brothers and three sisters.

The three others – Azhar Farooq, Zulfiqar Ali and Khuram Shahzad – were respectively from Malakwal, Parhana Lok and Charranwala areas of Mandi Bahauddin district.

Their families said they too wanted to travel to Europe for jobs through the network of a Phalia-based human trafficker, Muhamma Khan Pathan.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has condemned the tragic incident and constituted a committee to make arrangements for shifting the bodies of the victims to their native places.

The committee will also provide every possible assistance to the victims’ families by contacting the Balochistan government.

It is headed by provincial minister Rana Mashhood, while minister Khwaja Imran Nazir, both the health secretaries, Gujranwala commissioner, regional police officer, Lahore CCPO, deputy commissioner, director general public relations and Shehr-i-Khamoshan Authority head will be its members.

The committee will also identify the reasons for the tragic incident and present its recommendations within three days to the chief minister.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2017