The number of missing people from Azad Jammu and Kashmir's (AJK) Kotli district alone has climbed to 166 after families of 88 more victims of the boat tragedy off the Greece coast on June 12-13 contacted the authorities, confirmed Mirpur Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Dr Khalid Mahmood Chauhan on Monday.
The DIG revealed that 88 more families of the boat victims have contacted them, adding that data of 50 other people was compiled at the local level with the help of local residents.
Soon after the tragic incident of the shipwreck, the families of 28 youths had contacted them, he added. The police officer said that 166 residents of Kotli were reportedly missing so far in the migrant boat incident. He feared that the number could further rise in the coming days.
“The heirs of the boat victims do not come forward due to fear of law [legal action],” observed the police officer. He urged the people to provide the details of their children onboard the ill-fated boat and assured that the police will help them in finding their beloved.
“Some of the missing people are still in Greece jails and some are under investigation,” he added.
European authorities don't have a clear idea about the number of people aboard the boat when it sank — estimates range from 400 to over 700 — but likely hundreds came from Pakistan and AJK.
Thousands of Pakistanis attempt to reach Europe illegally each year in search of a better life abroad, and there is an established network of people smugglers capitalising on their dreams.
On June 23, the interior minister said that 12 Pakistanis were rescued in the accident, where the boat with a capacity of 400 people had carried 700 people.
"The number of Pakistanis on the boat found so far is 350," he said, adding that, perhaps, not as many lives were lost in any terrorist incident.
He further said that 82 bodies had been removed from the sea, and the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) teams are trying to identify them through DNA.
The minister said special desks have been established to contact the affected families. "So far 281 families have contacted these desks."
He shared that the bodies of the deceased can be brought back after the identification process is complete.
