On a wooden boat that broke apart on rocks off southern Italy on Sunday, killing at least 64 people, two Pakistanis and one Turk were detained on suspicion of trafficking up to 200 migrants, the local police said on Tuesday.
At least 30 Pakistanis are said to have perished after their overcrowded boat capsized in rough seas off the coast of Calabria, southern Italy, while 17 others were rescued.
Two more Pakistanis perished in the boat catastrophe, according to a tweet from the foreign ministry of Pakistan on Tuesday.
Two Pakistani nationals and a Turkish man, according to Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Lippolis, were “the major perpetrators of the disaster” and had sailed the boat from Turkey to Italy despite the horrible weather.
The migrants were allegedly solicited for roughly 8,000 euros ($8,485) each, according to preliminary investigations, said Lippolis, the head of a finance police squad in the Calabrian province. The police have detained all three.
A court source revealed that one of the Pakistanis was a kid and added that police were seeking for a fourth suspect, a Turkish national.
In rough seas early on Sunday, the boat ran aground and disintegrated close to the Italian town of Steccato di Cutro.
