KARACHI: Five Pakistanis are among those feared dead in the Indian Ocean shipwreck that took place near the African port of Mombasa on Thursday morning [June 11]. The Government authorities in Karachi yesterday said there were in all 43 Pakistanis aboard the oil tanker “S.T. Thorland” that exploded in the mid-seas, some 450 nautical miles off Mombasa and sank later.

Thirty-eight of the remaining passengers, rescued by a Swiss liner sailing nearby, reached Karachi by air this morning and are placed in a nine-day quarantine at the Karachi airport. They are all safe and unhurt, but unable to speak because of the shock caused by the explosion.

The shippers agents in Pakistan, Messrs Forbes, Forbes, Campbell and Company, said in Karachi on being contacted that they had intimated the families of the deceased and the survivors of the tragedy. — Agency

[Meanwhile, as reported by our correspondent in Karachi,] The Central Government has decided in principle to set up a corporation to tackle the problem of industrial labour housing in Karachi, it is learnt. The corporation would be set up through an ordinance which is understood to be in the drafting stage with the Central Law Ministry.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2020