FAISALABAD, Sept 9: As many as nine foreign students of different nationalities were still studying in various city seminaries without obtaining no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the government, sources said on Saturday.

The provincial home department directed the district coordination officer to hold a meeting with the managements of the seminaries and tell them to either arrange NOCs for such students or they would be deported, the sources said. The DCO had also been asked to submit a report to the provincial government on the action taken in this regard, they added.

According to the sources, the foreign students staying illegally and studying in city seminaries belonged to Afghanistan, China, Sudan, Tajikistan, Finland and Kenya.

A government officer said a meeting of the seminary managements would be shortly convened to direct them to take measures to legalise the students’ stay in the country buried: The Christian pilgrims who were electrocuted on Friday night when the antenna of the bus in which they were traveling touched a high voltage electricity wire, were buried in Dhera Sain graveyard on Saturday.

Those buried are; Shakila, 18, her nephew Vishal, 7, Sharif, 55, Hakim Bibi, 50, Raza, 4, Phool, 9, Iram and Ms Shaukat.

Bishop Joseph and hundreds of others attended the funeral.

The people gathered to attend the funeral and members of the bereaved families complained of poor facilities at the Allied Hospital, Faisalabad. A relative of Ms Shaukat alleged that she died due to negligence of doctors.

The residents of Esa Nagar left Faisalabad for annual pilgrimage when the rented bus met the accident near Mariamabad on Friday night. Five pilgrims died on the spot while three succumbed to their burns on Saturday.