ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Sunday confirmed that 21 Pakistani nationals are among those who survived the recent boat accident off the coast of Morocco.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement that the identity of all 21 survivors has been confirmed.
Immediate assistance is being provided to the affected Pakistani nationals through the diplomatic mission in Rabat, it added. The embassy has arranged for essential items including food, water, medicines and clothing.”
Foreign Office said that the “Local authorities in Dakhla are providing shelter and medical facilities upon our diplomatic request. The consular team of the embassy is currently in Dakhla to supervise the relief work.”
The statement further said that the government is in close contact with the Moroccan authorities to ensure full assistance to the affected Pakistani nationals and finalize the arrangements for their repatriation. “We are committed to the welfare of Pakistanis abroad and are closely monitoring the situation.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Office also shared the list of Pakistanis who survived the Morocco boat accident.
The Pakistani nationals who were rescued from the Moroccan coast include Mudassar Hussain, Wasim Khalid, Muhammad Khaliq, Abdul Ghaffar, Gul Shamir, Tanveer Ahmed, Syed Muhammad Abbas Kazmi, Ghulam Mustafa, Syed Badr Mohiuddin and Imran Iqbal.
Apart from them, Shoaib Zafar, Ali Hassan, Syed Mehtab Al Hassan, Uzair Basharat, Muhammad Asif, Mujahid Ali, Amir Ali, Muhammad Omar Farooqi, Bilawal Iqbal, Arsalan and Irfan Ahmed have also been rescued
It should be recalled that on Thursday, an accident occurred in a boat carrying illegal immigrants from the African country of Mauritania to Spain.
Moroccan authorities had said that a boat carrying 86 migrants had left Mauritania on January 2. And initially, it was claimed that 50 migrants, including 44 Pakistanis, had died in the accident.
Local authorities in Rabat said that a total of 66 Pakistanis were on board the boat, while 36 people were rescued.
Also Read: Boat accident: Pakistan sends high-level team to Morocco for investigation
A four-member team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) left for Rabat on Saturday to investigate the deaths of Pakistani citizens.
FIA officials in Pakistan had said that the four-member investigation team going to Morocco is being headed by Additional Secretary Interior Salman Chaudhry.
According to officials, FIA Punjab Additional Director Munir Masood Marth is part of the team, while an officer from the Foreign Office and the Intelligence Bureau also left for Morocco with the investigation team.
