Pakistani couple, four children going to Greece drown in Turkiye sea

ANKARA: A Pakistani couple along with their four children drowned in the sea near Turkiye while trying to go to Europe. Syed Ali Agha, a resident of Alamdar Road, Quetta, his wife, Bibi Tahira, 40, four children, Subhan, 14, Sajjad, 12, Fatima, 10, and Kausar, 5, died when their boat capsized in the sea of Turkey while going to Greece.

His family confirmed that on March 20, an acquaintance from Turkey reported the accident over the phone and said that no one had survived. They said that they had contacted the Pakistani embassy in Turkey and the Turkish authorities.

The procedure to bring the dead bodies to Quetta was very expensive, complicated and time-consuming. The cost of bringing a dead body to Quetta was said to be at least $8,000 and the family allowed the deceased to be buried there.

They said that the entire family was suffering and the couple’s elderly parents were in shock. According to Ali Agha’s brother-in-law Adil Shah, his sister had married Syed Ali Agha about 15 years ago. They moved to Turkey three or four years ago in search of employment. He said that Ali Agha’s dream was to give his wife and children a better and prosperous future, but his life in Turkey was not easy; he worked on daily wages in the construction sector and was barely making ends meet. According to Turkish authorities, a migrant boat capsized off northern Turkey in mid-March after being hit by a storm, killing people. Authorities have recovered the bodies of 23 migrants, including Ali Agha’s family. Turkish authorities say that the exact number of people on board is not known, but air and sea operations are still ongoing to search for those who drowned.