GUJRAT: Bodies of the six people who died in the boat tragedy between Libya and Greece two weeks ago arrived in three districts of the Gujranwala division. The victims whose bodies arrived included a couple belonging to Sialkot.

Official sources said the bodies were brought to the Lahore airport during the last two days from where the families of the deceased received them and took them to their native areas.

They said that one Abdullah and his wife, Saima Nawaz, residents of Sialkot, were also among the deceased who were trying to enter Europe onboard a small ship that had sunk on April 12.

Muhammad Aslam the father of Abdullah received the bodies of the couple who were laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard after offering the funeral prayers. Syed Ali Hussain and Asif Ali were buried in Mandi Bahauddin while Zahid Mehmood and Muhammad Waseem of Gujranwala were laid to rest in their native areas.

A senior official of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Gujranwala zone, said three inquiries had been registered with Gujrat and Gujranwala circles of FIA in connection with the capsize tragedy; however no case against any human trafficker involved in sending these victims was lodged since the heirs of deceased did not file any complaint.

The Libyan media had earlier claimed that 67 passengers were traveling on the boat when the incident occurred.

The body of Sameer Ali, another deceased victim of district Gujrat, has not reached Pakistan yet.

With the arrival of six bodies and wait for another from the region, the number of total Pakistanis who died in the incident reached seven but initially, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) had only confirmed the deaths of four Pakistanis.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2025