4 illegal immigrants dead as boat sinks near Gwadar port
The victims were illegal immigrants who were trying to enter Iran by crossing the Arabian sea.
QUETTA (AFP) - At least four people died when a ferry carrying illegal immigrants sank near Pakistan s southwestern port of Gwadar, officials said on Monday.
Authorities said the victims were illegal immigrants who were trying to enter Iran by crossing the Arabian sea in a speedboat.
"They were illegal immigrants, local residents have recovered four dead bodies and handed them over to us," Abdul Hameed Abro, a senior administrative official in Gwadar, told AFP.
"One of the victims had been identified, he belonged to Mansehra district," of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Abro added.
Residents and rescue workers recovered the four bodies early Monday in the Jiwani area of Gwadar, around 1300 kilometres (800 miles) southwest of Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province.
The exact number of those travelling in the boat is unclear with officials providing conflicting reports ranging from eight to 11 people. It is also unclear when the boat sank.
Moeen Ahmad confirmed the incident and told AFP that the illegal immigrants were trying to enter Iran.
Pakistan s Gwadar district neighbours Iran s Saravan province. People smugglers use the route to traffick illegal immigrants to Europe, via Iran and Turkey.
