A thrust for green pastures amid dwindling social and economic situations was prompting many Pakistanis to risk their lives to reach Europe.

“In Pakistan, you have to leave the country for so many reasons,” Naeem Afridi, brother of Hameedullah, who was travelling on a boat from Libya headed to Europe, told Al Jazeera. “There is no rule of law.”

Afridi spoke about his last interaction with his brother on June 12 when he was on a boat travelling from Libya to Europe.

“Hameedullah told me ‘Don’t worry. I’m just eight or nine hours away from Europe’,” Afridi said, “and he told me that when he arrived he would contact me.”

There were at least 209 Pakistani “victims” on an overloaded boat that capsized and sank in open seas off Greece last week, according to the Federal Investigation Agency data.

Witness accounts suggested that between 400 and 750 people had crammed onto the 20- to 30 metre-long (65- to 100-foot) fishing boat which then capsized and sank early on June 14 about 50 miles (80 km) from the southern coastal town of Pylos, according to Reuters.

The official death toll from the accident still stands at 82 and the number of survivors at 104, of whom 12 were Pakistanis.

When Afridi heard the shipwreck news, he said: “I felt like my soul was going away.” Like many others, he was making efforts to find information about his brother’s whereabouts.

He claimed that he did receive any official confirmation, but added that Hameedullah and his three-year-old son Afaq Ahmed were among hundreds feared dead. The victim had left the country with hopes of building a safer future. His wife had been killed a year earlier, and he feared for his son’s life.

The brothers had considered several options, however, they felt that a risky boat journey to Europe was the “only option”.

Afridi like many families of the victims has come to know that 385 people from Pakistan died in the shipwreck. But he believes they were 385 families, which were “completely devastated and hopeless.”

As per the interior ministry, about 350 Pakistanis were on board. The Greek coastguard has found only 104 survivors and confirmed 82 deaths.

Saeed Anwer described his older brother Abdul Jabbar as “soft-hearted” while sharing his anguish.

“He was so nice to everyone,” Anwer told the Qatari state-owned news network over WhatsApp from Pakistan. “Everyone wanted to talk with him.”

Jabbar and his three cousins – Sajid Yousaf, Awais Asif and Tuqeer Parwez – left their village near Kotli in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Reports said that many victims belonged to Gujrat and AJK.

“They left because of poverty, because of the conflict in Kashmir there are no job opportunities,” said their uncle, Ramzan Jarral, over a WhatsApp video call.

Jabbar spoke with his family consistently over WhatsApp as he waited in Libya for a boat to leave. He had shared his concerns over the journey with his uncle, but despite that he was hopeful.

In their last conversation, Anwer said that Jabbar asked him to care for his family, especially his two young daughters. His wife Yasra is pregnant with a third child.

“He said ‘Pray for me that I reach safely my destination’,” said Anwer.