ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office, on Monday, confirmed that there were 20 Pakistanis aboard the vessel that capsized off the coast of Italy on Sunday, of which, 16 were rescued while four are missing.

Updating the media, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the Embassy of Pakistan in Italy continues to vigorously follow the case of Pakistanis aboard the vessel that capsized off the coast of Italy on Sunday.

She added that on Monday, a senior embassy official in Rome met 16 Pakistani survivors of the capsized vessel in Calabria.

“They seemed in good physical condition. According to them, there were 20 Pakistanis on the ship,” she said, adding the embassy is in close contact with the Italian authorities to verify the status of the four missing Pakistanis.

According to media reports, 59 people died, including some children, when a wooden sailing boat carrying migrants crashed against rocks on the southern Italian coast on Sunday.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023