ATHENS: Greek authorities have confirmed the identities of 15 Pakistanis who lost their lives in the tragic boat disaster last month.
The deceased have been through fingerprint matching and DNAs. Authorities are making efforts to repatriate the dead bodies to their home country in a phase manner.
The deceased Pakistanis belong to Vehari, Sheikhupura, Gujarat and Gujranwala. The victims have been identified as Abdul Wahid, Sufyan Abbas, Muhammad Tahir, Adnan, Moiz Siddique, Shahbaz Ahmed Shamil from Gujarat.
Nasir Ali, Inam Ali, Muhammad Abu Bakar Arif, Arslan Ali belonged to Gujranwala, Ali Ejaz of Mandi Bahauddin, Muhammad Naeem of Vehari, Muhammad Yusuf of Mirpur Azad Kashmir, Saqib Shabbir of Rawalpindi, and Khawar Hussain of Sheikhupura.
The Foreign Office of Pakistan has already stated that Greek authorities confirmed that there were 15 Pakistanis among those who lost their lives in the tragic boat disaster last month.
At a weekly media briefing on Thursday, the Foreign Office spokesperson announced: “Greek authorities have carried out autopsies on all 78 dead bodies that were recovered and DNA samples have been obtained. The analysis of DNA samples has also been made.”
She said DNA reports that had been received were from people who feared that their loved ones might be on that boat. “This, however, does not confirm whether they were actually on that boat. Because of the dynamic nature of this process, unfortunately, I don’t have the exact number of DNA samples shared with Greek authorities thus far, but we can share it with our media friends separately,” she clarified.
Pakistan has taken up the issue of the disaster with the Greek government, which has initiated a judicial inquiry into the matter. The spokesperson said Greek authorities have interviewed the survivors to ascertain information about the circumstances of the ferry disaster, adding that Pakistan will remain in contact with Greece.
