Another asylum-seeker boat capsizes en route to Australia

An asylum-seeker boat carrying an estimated 150 people capsized Wednesday en route to Australia’s Christmas Island, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

“A vessel has capsized 107 nautical miles north of Christmas Island, there are reportedly 150 people on board,” an AMSA spokeswoman told AFP.

“We don’t have numbers on survivors at this stage.”

The incident comes barely a week after another boat with around 200 people on board went down in the Indian Ocean as it made its way to Australia.

Rescuers managed to save 110 people and 17 bodies were recovered, but no other survivors have been found.

“There are two merchant vessels on the scene, they are recovering survivors,” the AMSA spokeswoman said of Wednesday’s disaster. AFP