Greece boat tragedy: DNA samples collected from families of 126 missing victims

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has obtained DNA samples from the families of 126 missing victims of the Greece boat tragedy, it emerged Thursday.

Samples were submitted by the relatives of 52 victims in FIA Gujarat Circle and 46 affected families in Gujranwala Circle.

Meanwhile, blood samples were also obtained from the relatives of 28 people of Kotli Azad Kashmir. Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Haq Nawaz said that total 30 persons of the Kotli, were on board of the ill-fated boat and only two survived after the incident.

The DC said 24 of the missing people belonged to the Khuiratta Sub-division, three to Charhoi Sub-division and one to Sehensa Sub-division.

Seven of the 12 human traffickers, nominated in the first information report (FIR), including Muhammad Mehtab, Asif Khan, Manazer Hussain, Zaffar Mahmood, Assad Mahmood, Sohail Iqbal and Fareed Khan of the Kotli district had been arrested, while another trafficker Sajid, resident of Gujrat, was already in the custody of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), he added.

Last week, an Italy-bound fishing trawler reportedly carrying at least 800 people — including hundreds of Pakistanis — capsized off Greece. Only 104 people are known to have survived and the chance of finding more survivors was seen as virtually nil.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has assured that the government would take strict action against Greece boat tragedy and an investigation report would be submitted within a week by duly fixing responsibility on those involved in negligence.

In response to the Greek ship accident, a committee had been constituted under strict directives of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif commenced its investigation, he said while talking to a private news channel.

“The investigation committee will present its report in a week and further action will be taken by the federal government”, Rana Sanaullah added.

He said the committee will ascertain facts of the Greece boat tragedy besides identifying loopholes and lapses in the legal mechanism in Pakistan that exposed precious human lives to the vagaries of human trafficking in this particular case and similar incidents in the past.