At least 20 Pakistanis feared missing after migrant boat capsizes off Italy

GUJRAT: At least 20 Pakistani nationals, mainly from Gujranwala and Gujrat regions, are feared dead after a migrant boat carrying over 100 people capsized in the Central Mediterranean on Sunday, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The vessel, which departed from Tajoura, Libya, reportedly carried around 120 passengers.

While 32 survivors were rescued and two bodies recovered, more than 80 individuals remain missing.

Local sources said the missing Pakistanis included residents from Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin, Hafizabad, and Sialkot districts. Six victims were reported from Phalia tehsil in Mandi Bahauddin, 11 from Pindi Bhattian and Hafizabad tehsils in Hafizabad district, and one each from Noshehran Virkan in Gujranwala and Sambrial tehsil in Sialkot. Among the survivors was Pakistani national Imran Asghar.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) declined to confirm the exact number of Pakistanis involved. An FIA official told Dawn that authorities are still collecting information from relevant districts, noting that neither the foreign nor interior ministries had provided verified details regarding missing nationals.

This is the first major incident involving Pakistani migrants since January 2025, when at least 40 citizens drowned while attempting to reach Spain. The IOM reported that the vessel taking on water encountered rough seas, engine failure, fuel shortages, and food scarcity, leaving it adrift for three days before rescue. Survivors indicated that many victims likely succumbed to hypothermia before rescue operations reached them.

The rescued passengers were retrieved by a merchant vessel and a tugboat, then transported to Lampedusa by the Italian coast guard. The agency stressed that this latest disaster is part of a broader trend, with over 180 migrants feared dead or missing in Mediterranean shipwrecks during the past ten days. Nearly 1,000 deaths have been recorded across the Mediterranean since the start of 2026, including around 765 fatalities in the Central Mediterranean alone—over 460 more than during the same period in 2025.

Additional recent tragedies include a boatwreck off Lampedusa on April 1, which killed at least 19 migrants and left 58 survivors, and a rubber boat capsizing near Bodrum, Turkiye, on the same day, claiming at least 19 lives. Other shipwrecks in late March near Sfax, Tunisia, and Crete resulted in dozens of deaths and missing persons.

IOM chief Amy Pope said these incidents underscore the persistent risks faced by migrants using unsafe maritime routes. “Saving lives must come first. But we also need stronger, unified efforts to stop traffickers and smugglers from exploiting vulnerable people, and to expand safe and regular pathways—so no one is ever forced into these deadly journeys,” she stated.

Authorities in Pakistan and abroad continue monitoring the situation, while families of the missing are awaiting confirmation of their loved ones’ fate.