The lone survivor of the cargo ship that came under attack off the Yemeni coast has made an appeal to Pakistan's Embassy in Yemen to make early arrangements for his return to home.
In 75 seconds video message, which has been available with Business Recorder since December 11 but was kept on hold for veracity, from a hospital somewhere in the war-torn Yemen, the survived crewmember of the cargo ship appealed to Pakistan Embassy to arrange travel documents as soon as possible so that he could travel back to home.
The survivor was later identified as Kabeer Khadim Hussain by Ansar Burney Trust International on Thursday as the lone survivor of the MV JOUYA-8 that came under attack in Yemeni waters.
However, Kabeer in the video claimed that the ship was targeted from a fighter jet off the Yemeni coast where Saudi-led coalition is battling Houthis and former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces. "When the rocket was fired from an aircraft our ship drowned in the sea [after being hit]. I myself survived while another crewmember Sohail Ahmad's dead body is in this hospital [hospital's name not known]. About the other six crewmembers, I don't know where they are," Kabeer said in the video.
He added that six crewmembers were still missing and the Yemeni authorities were finding them. "At present, I don't know whether or not they have been recovered," he further maintained. This was also verified by Ansar Burney Trust International, which stated that so far only one Pakistani had managed to survive somehow who had managed to swim towards some island. "One of the eight Pakistanis boarded on the unfortunate ship was reported to have signed off from the ship and was travelling on the ship for coming back to Pakistan," it added.
According to the Ansar Burney Trust International, the unfortunate cargo ship MV JOUYA-8 having Iranian flag was heading towards Gulf from Egypt via Sea of Hodeidah, Yemen, where a "strayed or aimed rocket" hit the ship which caused its destruction boarded with eight Pakistanis including its Captain Syed Anis-ur-Rehman, also a Pakistani national.
"The Ansar Burney Trust International has started to contact with concerned authorities having severe concerns and reservations for the safety and security of the onboard Pakistanis of MV JOUYA-8," stated the press release. Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria did not respond to queries put forwarded by Business Recorder related to the incident and any further update on bringing the Pakistani crew and the dead body of another back to home.