Greece boat tragedy: Pakistani nationals 'maltreated, forced to stay below deck'

Hundreds of migrants are feared dead after a boat carrying them capsized off the coast of Greece last week. The boat was believed to be packed with 400 to 700 people of different nationalities, including Pakistanis, at the time of the disaster. Now, survivor testimonies have suggested that Pakistani nationals were forced to stay below the deck, making them vulnerable when the crowded boat overturned, according to The Guardian.

At least 78 people are known to have died, but the UN says up to 500 are still missing in Wednesday's shipwreck, a BBC report said. At least 400 Pakistanis, 200 Egyptians and 150 Syrians, including around two dozen Syrian women and young children, were travelling on the trawler, according to the initial information shared by survivors of the shipwreck, the Dawn said in a report.

Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, chairman of the Pakistan Senate, said that over 300 migrants from Pakistan died in the boat tragedy. However, Greek authorities are yet to confirm the number, a report in the CNN said.

Days after the incident, shocking accounts from survivors have revealed that women and children were made to stay in the hold, according an article in the The Guardian. Migrants, who were from Pakistan, were not allowed to travel on top of the deck, the report said, citing leaked testimonies by survivors to coastguards.

"The testimonies suggest women and children were effectively “locked up” in the hold, ostensibly to be “protected” by men on the overcrowded vessel...Pakistani nationals were also kept below deck, with crew members maltreating them when they appeared in search of fresh water or tried to escape," according to The Guardian article.

The conditions on the packed boat were poor and six people had died even before the sinking due to lack of fresh water. Nawal Soufi, a Moroccan-Italian social worker activist, said that people were seeking help a day before the boat capsized. However, the Greek government claimed that passengers told the coastguard that they did not ask for help because they were headed to Italy.