Pakistan said on Saturday that 12 of its citizens have been identified among survivors of a shipwreck that killed at least 78 people off the coast of Greece.

In a tweet, the Foreign Office (FO) said that at this stage they were unable to verify number and identity of Pakistanis among the deceased.

‘‘Pakistani Embassy remains in contact with local authorities for identification and recovery of Pakistani nationals.’’

Early on Wednesday morning a fishing boat carrying between 400 and 750 people had capsized and sank about 50 miles (80 km) from the southern coastal town of Pylos.

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster 104 survivors and 78 people who drowned were brought to shore by Greek authorities, but nothing has been found since, as per Reuters.

A massive search and rescue operation continued on Friday, but hopes were dwindling of finding any more survivors from the hundreds of people believed to have been on board the boat when it sank in some of the deepest waters of the Mediterranean.