Up to 50 dead in asylum seeker boat crash on Australian Island

[News_Editor]

Up to 50 dead in asylum seeker boat crash on Australian Island

2010-12-16 08:44:49 GMT+7 (ICT)

PERTH, AUSTRALIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 28 and as many as 50 people are feared dead after an asylum boat crashed into the rocky coast of an Australian island, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Australian Federal Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen said up to 100 people could have been aboard the boat when the accident happened on Christmas Island, which is located in the Indian Ocean, about 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth and abound 360 kilometers (220 miles) south of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.

Bowen said the number of confirmed deaths was 28, adding that 44 Iranian and Iraqi asylum seekers had survived the incident. Eleven of them were under the age of 18.

"It's too early to say. We're obviously talking to some of the asylum seekers, and that will continue to happen," he said. "People who have survived say there were between 70 and 100," he told radio station 3MTR. "But we really don't know and we probably never will," he added.

Local residents have been horrified by the incident, saying they could hear the cries for help coming from the rough waters, but when they arrived, the conditions made it difficult for them to do anything.

The strong sea currents struck the boat repeatedly, constantly smashing the boat into the sharp rocks. The boat was being smashed into pieces as boards began flying up into the air and even reached residents who had approached the coast.

Residents chained together, trying to save as many people as possible, and handed out life vests to those in the water.

''This has been a tragic event, and it will be some time before there is a full picture of what has happened. The government's focus and absolute priority now is on rescue, recovery and treatment of those injured," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

Survivors were taken to hospitals and clinics to receive medical treatment, but the incident has been harshly questioned since the boat reached the Australian coast without it being intercepted despite the country's radar system.

In October 2001, another asylum seeker boat also suffered an accident in which at least 353 people died.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-12-16

[softgeorge]

Sad loss of life but these people were comitting a criminal offence. They were ilegal immigrants trying to sneak into Christmas Island under the cover of darkness. They paid the utimate price for thier ilegal activity. If they had simply of joined the immigration line like all honest people then they would still be alive. I have no time for que jumpers my wife had to go through the process and yes it takes a long time but legal.

There is approximately 100,000 homeless people on the streets of Australia and everytime one of these ilegal immigrants gets into the country they are afforded housing, education and welfare for the rest of thier lives. My taxes go up to pay for it and the 1,000's of Aussie homeless get pushed to the back of the line.

[moetownblues]

Tragic as it is to see people die including children in such a horrific maner. At the same time it is also hard to have a lot of sympathy for them. They tried to get onto Australian soil ilegally and suffered the consequences. Had they gone through legal chanels they would not have died.

[cdnvic]

I'm not going to wait to see the responses we get to people wagging their fingers at dead infants for breaking the law.