Boat sinks with 65 near Libya port, Pakistan seeks details of nationals

ISLAMABAD: A vessel around 65 passengers onboard capsized near the Marsa Dela port in Libya, the Foreign Office said on Monday.

Pakistan’s embassy in Libya was seeking details of its nationals in the incident near the port of Marsa Dela, northwest of Zawiya city, Libya, the FO spokesman said in a statement.

“Our Embassy in Tripoli has informed that a vessel carrying approximately 65 passengers capsized near the port of Marsa Dela in Libya.”

The Embassy had immediately dispatched a team to “Zawiya hospital to assist the local authorities in [the] identification of the deceased”.

The embassy has also noted that it was trying to ascertain further details of the Pakistani citizens affected in the incident.

The foreign ministry has activated its Crisis Management Unit to monitor the situation closely, coordinating with local officials and offering assistance where necessary.

In a similar incident last month, a boat carrying 80 passengers was capsized near Morocco, the identities of 13 Pakistanis killed in the incident were confirmed. While over 40 Pakistanis were reportedly murdered by human traffickers on the boat and only 22 survived the tragedy.