Refugee boat victims:
Australia resumes hunt
AUSTRALIA: Rescuers scoured treacherous seas Thursday for survivors
of a refugee boat wreck that killed at least 28 people off Australia,
renewing heated debate on the grim plight of boat people travelling from
Asia.
The wooden craft, crowded with up to 100 Iraqi, Kurdish and Iranian
asylum seekers and their children, hit rocks at remote Christmas Island
Wednesday and was shattered by huge waves as residents looked on
helplessly.
Traumatised survivors pulled from the sea after the disaster huddled
in a hospital and reception centre Thursday, with the most seriously
injured flown to Perth, amid dwindling hopes of finding their fellow
passengers alive.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the harrowing search and rescue
mission had resumed at first light but warned the death toll would rise
as searchers struggled with brutal conditions.
“We do not know with any certainty how many people there were on the
boat,” said Gillard, who cut short her vacation to respond to the
emergency. “We have got to prepare ourselves for the likelihood that
more bodies will be found and there has been further loss of life than
we know now.”
The prime minister said 42 survivors had been plucked from the ocean,
downgrading an earlier estimate of 44, while 28 bodies had been
recovered — also including a number of young people and children.
Immigration minister Chris Bowen earlier said there had been between
70 and 100 people on board the leaky fishing boat, according to
survivors, adding that the exact number of dead would “probably never”
be known. Medics believe as many as 50 people may have perished on the
jagged limestone outcrop.
“Yesterday we saw a truly horrific event, a terrible human tragedy on
what is a very dangerous coastline at Christmas Island,” said Gillard.
“I know the nation is shocked by what we have seen.” Sydney,
Thursday, AFP |