Shahid Mehmood, a retired Pakistani civil servant, tried his best to persuade his son not to make the trip to Europe in search of a better life.
Now, the father fears his son was among those lost in a disastrousoff Greece on Wednesday in which hundreds of people are thought to have died, among them Pakistanis. The family were praying for him to be recovered alive but by Friday evening had started to lose hope.
Mehmood said his son did not have any travel document, or an identity card or passport, but the people who organised the trip flew him off from central city of Faisalabad. He said he last heard from his son when Sultan got on a boat, which he believes was the doomed vessel. Greek authorities have said 104 survivors and 78 bodies of the dead were brought ashore in the immediate aftermath. Hopes were fading of finding any more people alive.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Greece migrant boat capsize leaves hundreds missing, with fear 100 kids trapped in holdA major search continued for possible survivors of a sea disaster in Greece, as hundreds of people are still feared missing. An official with one major global charity said there were reports that 100 kids could have been trapped in the boat's hold.
Read more »
Day in the life of a millennial who fled Ukraine for safety in GreeceDay in the life of a millennial who fled Ukraine to find peace in Greece, where she can work remotely and avoid the stress of war
Read more »
Final day of search for missing migrants in Greece; hundreds feared deadMost of the survivors were being moved Friday to migrant shelters from a storage hangar, where relatives also gathered to look for loved ones.
Read more »
How migrant tragedy unfolded on the high seas off GreeceAs Greece confronts its worst sea disaster in years, questions are mounting about how potentially hundreds of migrants drowned even as their vessel was being shadowed by the Greek coastguard.
Read more »
Greece pilloried for watching refugee boat sink in MediterraneanAttention turns to Greece's failure to act as shipwreck kills at least 78 refugees and migrants, amid fears hundreds more may have drowned inside the crowded vessel's hold.
Read more »
Greece boat disaster: Emotional reunion for brothers as hopes of finding more survivors fadeA Syrian teenager who survived a shipwreck that killed at least 78 people was emotionally reunited with his elder brother on Friday, but there was no news for other relatives gathering in the southern Greek city of Kalamata to search for loved ones.
Read more »