Nation mourns loss of lives in Greece ferry disaster

F.P. Report
LAHORE: The nation observed a mourning day on Monday over the Greece boat disaster, in which dozens of precious lives were lost. An overloaded ferry had capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Greece on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif had announced Sunday observance of a mourning day to share the grief of the grieving families. The national flag flew at half-mast across the country. Various bar councils and civil society members held special prayers, ‘Ghaebana Namaz-e-Janaza’ (funeral prayers) and ‘Fateha khawani’ in the native villages, towns and cities of victims of the ferry disaster.
The United Nations Human Rights office said in a statement on Sunday that at least 500 people were still missing and that dozens of people were known to have perished. A good number of women and children were among the missing persons in the ‘horrific trage­dy’ that left at least 78 people dead. The ferry boat was carrying up to 750 people that went down 50 nautical miles off Pylos in southern Greece, it further said.
In his condolences message on Saturday, PM Shehbaz Sharif expressed condolences with the bereaved families, who lost their loved-ones in the unfortunate ferry disaster. On his Twitter handle account, he said: “My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families who lost their loved-ones in the unfortunate ferry disaster in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Greece.” He further said Pakistan’s embassy in Athens had identified 12 Pakistanis rescued by Hellenic Coast Guard. The embassy was in contact with the Greek authorities for further updates.
Conditions on the boat were so bleak that even before the ferry sank, there had already been six deaths, after it ran out of freshwater, a noted British daily newspaper ‘The Guardian’, claimed on Sunday.
Meanwhile Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Chaudhry Anwarul Haq on Saturday expressed his profound grief and sorrow in a statement over the loss of precious human lives in boat disaster in Greece, in which dozens of Pakistanis including those hailing from Azad Jammu Kashmir, had reportedly died.
Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) on Sunday observed state mourning over the boat disaster in which at least 700 people, including over 50 belonging to AJK, feared drowned.