Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Around 50 to 60 Pakistanis were killed when an asylum-seeker boat capsized near Australia, Interior Secretary confirmed on Friday.

The interior secretary said 20 people have been identified through DNA tests.

The dead bodies of these Pakistanis will be brought back soon, he said.

He said they had reached Malaysia en route to Iran and Turkey before leaving for Australia on a boat.

“It is an Australian law, once you enter Australia, you can’t be deported. These people were trying to take advantage of this law,” he added. SAMAA