Islamabad: The bodies of 11 Pakistani citizens who died when a smuggler’s boat capsized near Libya earlier this month were flown to Islamabad on Wednesday.
A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane carrying the bodies from Libya via Jeddah landed at Benazir International Airport in the evening. However, the relatives of the deceased, who had gathered at the airport’s cargo gate to collect the bodies of their loved ones, were reportedly mistreated by the airport staff. Ambulances, as well as media representatives, were also forbidden from getting past the airport gate. On February 2, it was reported that at least 90 people, believed to be migrants, had drowned after a boat sank near the coast of Libya in the Mediterranean Sea.
Published in Daily Times, February 15th 2018.
