ISLAMABAD, March 16: The Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) has offered compensation and scholarship facility to the legal heirs of 38 Pakistanis, who died in a tragic bus accident at Batha, Saudi Arabia, a senior Foundation official told Dawn here on Saturday.

The official said the OPF had sent letters to the families of the deceased, offering them cash and scholarships for their children.

The relatives of the deceased have been asked to contact the OPF office in Islamabad and collect the cash amount.

The official said 36 deceased have been buried in Saudi Arabia while efforts were being made to bring bodies of two Pakistanis to the country.

When asked about the compensation amount to be given to the legal heirs of each deceased, the official was reluctant to given the exact figure.

“Although the amount would not be big, it would give a realization to the families of the deceased that the OPF was with them in their hour of grief,” he added.

He said scholarships would help those families where children could not continue their studies because of the death of main bread-earner.

The official said bodies of Abdul Samad and Khalid Hussain Satti could not be brought to the country so far due to lengthy legal procedure of the Saudi government.

He said efforts were being made by the Pakistani government and the OPF for immediate shifting of the bodies of the two deceased.

It may be mentioned that a bus (16018), carrying Pakistani expatriates, mostly working with Air Force Cadet College, Al-Ain, UAE, met with a fatal accident at Batha, near UAE-Saudi border on Feb 13.

Majority of the deceased were retired technicians from Pakistan Air Force who were living in UAE alone. Their families havebeen living in Pakistan.