Addressing a weekly press briefing, Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch was quoted as saying by APP that the Pakistani embassy in Libya was facilitating the process of identification of the bodies.

The FO spokesperson said the bodies would be transported to Pakistan with the support of local authorities and the international committee of the Red Cross.

She maintained that the embassy and the foreign ministry were also in contact with the families of the deceased.

In another incident, last Sunday, at least 30 Pakistanis died and 17 were rescued after their overloaded boat sank in stormy seas off Italy’s southern Calabria region.