At least 50 people feared dead after boat smashes in to cliffs on Christmas Island

A boat filled with frantic asylum-seekers smashed into rocks and over turned into the cliffs near Flying Fish Cove on the north of Christmas Island which is off the west Australian coast today, a number of those on board have been rescued however at least 50 are feared dead and many more still trying to get to safety.

It’s thought the boat was carrying asylum seekers, Christmas Island councilor Kamar Ismail said they appeared to be mostly of Middle Eastern origin and a doctor confirmed most of the survivors were of Iraqi and Iranian nationality. Speaking about the distressing incident Mr Ismail said: “It was horrific, mate. I saw a person dying in front of me and there was nothing we could do to save them. Babies, children maybe three or four years old, they were hanging on to bits of timber, they were screaming ‘help, help, help’, we were throwing life jackets out to them but many of them couldn’t swim a few metres to reach them. The waves just kept on coming and smashed everything. When the navy boat came in, we just hugged each other. Just to see kids like that, I don’t know what to say.”

The wooden boat they were travelling on is believed to have set off from Indonesia carrying about 80 asylum seekers, authorities said there were an ‘unknown number of dead’, with witnesses saying that they could hear the screams of those thrown from the boat into the water. One resident who saw people struggling in the wild sea said: “It is heart-stopping. It’s carnage, a terrible tragedy. The sea is awash. None of us can get out to rescue them from the shore. It took a customs boat ages to get to them.”

Another Christmas Island resident Michael Foster, who helped with the rescue effort said: “By the time I got down there and saw what was going on, there was debris and people everywhere with life jackets on and so forth but a lot of screaming the carrying on. With the horrendous seas as they are, the only thing that people could do from the mainland was really throw life jackets back into the water or just advise them to swim away from the rocks.”

Australia’s acting Prime Minister, Wayne Swan, said: “A number of people have been rescued but sadly some bodies have been retrieved. It’s a very difficult situation.”

Picture courtesy of Christian Haugen

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