KARACHI: Four Pakistani sailors freed after more than five months in captivity aboard a tanker hijacked by Somali pirates are scheduled to return to Karachi on Sunday, a day later than previously announced, travel details obtained by Arab News showed, as efforts continued to bring home the bodies of three compatriots killed during the ordeal.

The four sailors, Yasir Khan, Aqeel Khan, Amin bin Shams and Usman Ghani, are booked on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET694 from Addis Ababa, scheduled to arrive at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport at 4:40 p.m. on Oct. 4, according to an itinerary seen by Arab News.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday the four sailors would arrive in Karachi on Saturday following efforts by Pakistan’s Foreign Office and its embassy in Djibouti to secure their return.

Qurratulain Muhammad Anis, legal adviser to the Ansar Burney Trust, which has been assisting the sailors and their families, told Arab News on Saturday that efforts were underway to repatriate the bodies of the three Pakistanis on Sunday as well.

“There are some formalities that still need to be resolved,” she said, adding that authorities were trying to arrange for the bodies to arrive the same day as the four surviving sailors.

The Palau-flagged MT Honour 25 was seized off Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region on April 21 with 17 crew members aboard, including 10 Pakistanis.

Puntland maritime forces recovered the vessel late last month after more than five months in captivity. Five crew members were killed, including Pakistanis Rafi Ullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer and Mahmood Ahmed Ansari, while four sailors were wounded.

Three other Pakistani survivors remain aboard the vessel with its captain, according to Dar, who said Islamabad was coordinating with other countries to facilitate their return.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday announced Rs12.5 million ($44,000) and a house for each of the three deceased Pakistani sailors’ families, along with free education and health care for their children.

Mahwish Yasir, whose husband Yasir Khan is among the four returning sailors, said the family was relieved that he was finally coming home.

“I cannot express my feelings,” she told Arab News on Saturday. “I am satisfied that my children will finally meet their father after such a long time.”

She said, however, that their relief was overshadowed by the deaths of the three Pakistani sailors.

“The sailors who died were also like our family,” she said. “Their grief is the same as ours.”