KARACHI: As further details emerged of its fateful final hours, authorities estimate that at least 209 Pakistanis were on board the ill-fated migrant ship that sank off the coast of Greece last week.

The figure is based on information provided by families, who came forward to say relatives had boarded the boat heading from Libya to Greece and were still missing, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told Reuters on Thursday.

Separately, one of the Pakistani survivors who was not forced below deck revealed that his countrymen on board were not even allowed to stand or speak.

The official death toll from the incident still stands at 82 and the number of survivors at 104, of whom 12 were Pakistanis. Pakistan is yet to officially confirm how many of its citizens were on the boat, but kick-started a DNA sampling effort to help Greece identify those who died.

The data shared by the FIA showed that 181 people were from Pakistan and 28 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

“An investigation to verify [the total number] is underway,” FIA Islamabad Zone Director Rana Abdul Jabbar told Reuters. The FIA has been tasked by the government with handling investigations into the tragedy.

Harrowing details

One of the 12 Pakistani survivors released from the camp in Malacca, Mohammad Hamza told BBC Urdu there was no food, water or toilet facility available in the ship’s hold, and several of those who were forced to stay down there frequently fainted or experienced sea sickness.

Hamza also said there were no women in the section he was seated in, but he did see two children between the ages of 10 and 12. He estimated that there were around 350 Pakistanis on board.

He narrated how they would ask for help from passing ships. “A cargo ship threw water and cake onto our boat and moved ahead, while we screamed ‘Help! Help!’ at the top of our lungs. Other passenger boats also provided us with small amounts of water and food, however, the help we needed was not provided to us,” he said.

He related how the boat’s engine stopped working around 30 minutes before it went under. “I luckily got a hold of a bottle which guided me to some distance, and then I grabbed a tube that was also held by Syrian and Egyptian survivors. We kept swimming in the open sea for about 40-45 minutes before we were rescued by a speed boat,” he told BBC Urdu.

Hamza also revealed there was no captain on the ship. “Every time we tried to ask the human traffickers, they assured us that they have asked for help from Italian authorities who were aware of the boat’s location.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2023