Twenty-two Pakistani fishermen have gone missing after their boat caught fire and capsized off the coast of Oman earlier this month.
The vessel had earlier departed from Gwadar on Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast on September 6 to conduct fishing activities off Oman.
The vessel capsized in a storm on September 7. However, the incident was not reported by the Pakistani media until earlier this week.
Reports stated that a malfunction in one of the vessel's gas cylinders triggered an explosion and a subsequent fire, forcing the crew to abandon ship.
Only one of the Pakistani boat's 23-strong crew has so far been rescued, this individual having been pulled out of the water by a passing vessel and then handed over to Omani officials.
Local authorities have been conducting search and rescue operations in the waters where the fishing vessel capsized.
Meanwhile, the families of the missing fishermen have been appealing to the Pakistani and Omani governments to exert the necessary effort to find any trace of their loved ones.
