MADRID – Another boat tragedy took the lives of at least sixty six Pakistanis who feared to be died in desperate attempt to reach Europe.
A report shared by wire agency quoting NGO said up to 50 migrants are feared to have drowned while attempting to reach Spain by boat from West Africa. The vessel from Mauritania was reportedly carrying 86 people, including over sixty Pakistanis.
So far nearly, three dozen commuters were rescued from the boat on Wednesday, but the remaining passengers are believed to have drowned.
Migrant advocacy group claimed that it cautioned officials from relevant nations before rescue operation about the missing boat, but no action was taken. Spain’s maritime rescue service were alerted about it on January 12, but they had no information regarding the boat’s whereabouts.
The tragic incident is latest in series of boat incidents as hundreds of Pakistanis are trying to move abroad using illegal ways.
In December, last year, Pakistani authorities launched manhunt for human traffickers linked to a deadly shipwreck off the Greek coast, which killed at least five citizens. The ill-fated boat, traveling from Libya to Greece, sank near Gavdos Island.
The top government officials ordered crackdown on smuggling networks operating across dangerous sea routes from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East to Europe.
Thousands of Pakistanis pay traffickers for such dangerous and illegal journeys through countries like Iran, Turkey, Libya, Greece, and Italy.
