Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter | The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan has launched a

probe into the network of traff¬ickers responsible for sending Pakistani migrants abr¬o¬ad who has lost their lives in an incident of shipwreck in the coast of southern Italy on Sunday Feb 28, 2023.

FIA said in a statement on Monday, “The several teams have been formed to investigate the matter and

arrest the traffickers who had illegally sent the victims.” 

FIA has also started contacting heirs of the shipwreck victims.

An official of FIA, Pakistan told Aljazeera: “We have met some families and conducted our own investigation into criminal elements involved in trafficking, and will hopefully make some arrests soon.” 

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said “the drowning of over two dozen Pakistanis in a boat tragedy in

Italy are deeply “concerning & worrisome”. I have directed Foreign Office to ascertain facts as early as possible & take the nation into confidence.”

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Foreign Office spokesperson with great sorrow, recently confirmed the death of two

Pakistanis in the accident of the boat capsize, as identified by their families. 

The Pakistani survivors of this incident are 17 and the investigation is still going on. 

Earlier, Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra said in a tweet, “a senior embassy official has met with 16 Pakistani

survivors.”

“They seemed in good physical condition. According to them there were 20 Pakistanis on the ship.” 

“[The] embassy is in close contact with Italian authorities to verify the status of missing Pakistani.”she said.

At least 63 has died, among them were 20 Pakistanis from Gujrat City, out of which 17 are survived, 2 died

and 1 is still missing according to the data provided by the foreign ministry of Pakistan.

Local authorities said 80 people survived the disaster, but between 180 to 200 people were believed to have

boarded the vessel when it left from Turkiye, suggesting many more passengers may have perished or be

missing.