ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) said on Sunday it was “closely following” reports about the possible presence of Pakistanis aboard a migrant ship that crashed on the southern Italian coast early morning, killing at least 58.
The wooden boat, carrying migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Iran, crashed on the rocks near the coastal town of Crotone in the Calabria region early Sunday morning, according to Manuela Curra, a local government official. Curra told Reuters news agency that the boat had left the Turkish coastal city of Izmir three or four days ago.
Italian coast guard officials said 80 people had been recovered alive, “including some who managed to reach the shore after the sinking.”
“We are closely following the reports about the possible presence of Pakistanis in the vessel that has capsized off the coast of Italy,” Pakistan’s FO spokesperson wrote on Twitter.
The United Nations Missing Migrants Project has registered more than 17,000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014. More than 220 have died or disappeared this year, it estimates.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed “deep sorrow” for the deaths. Blaming human traffickers, she vowed to block migrant sea departures to prevent such disasters.
In a separate statement, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said it was essential to stop sea crossings that he said offer migrants the “illusory mirage of a better life” in Europe, enrich traffickers, and cause such tragedies.
