Australian officials say asylum boat deaths likely to reach 50

SYDNEY - Asylum seekers who survived when an Indonesian fishing vessel foundered off Christmas Island told Australian authorities Thursday that up to 100 Iranians and Iraqis were aboard.

At least 50 are believed to have drowned after the wooden vessel was battered to bits below the cliffs of the remote Indian Ocean territory, spilling its passengers and crew into mountainous seas.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said 44 people had survived the sinking and 28 bodies had been recovered.

“People who’ve survived say there were between 70 and 100,” Bowen said of Wednesday’s disaster. “But we really don’t know and we probably never will.”

Len Notaris, head of the Trauma Response Centre at Darwin Hospital, said bodies would be taken to Darwin, Perth and possibly elsewhere.

“When you’re dealing with 50 bodies, that’s a huge task,” he said. “It’ll be horrendous.”

Refugee advocates have called for an inquiry into how the boat got through undetected and why locals spearheaded the rescue effort in the absence of officials.

“I can’t believe this was allowed to happen,” former diplomat Tony Kevin said. “Why was a boat allowed to come into the coast and crash when we have the radar and the interception capabilities to make that absolutely impossible?”