Australian authorities give up hope of finding asylum boat survivors
Rescue efforts called off for 55 people lost in Indian Ocean capsize
Rescue authorities gave up hope on Sunday of finding any survivors after an asylum seeker boat carrying at least 55 people to Australia capsized in the Indian Ocean.
The boat’s submerged hull was spotted by air on Friday, and bodies, life jackets and debris have been spotted near Christmas Island, an Australian territory nearer to Indonesia than to the mainland.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority called off the air and search on Sunday night based on medical advice that no one could have survived any longer in the sea, a statement said.
The authority and border protection officials were discussing on Monday whether to mount a new search to recover the bodies, maritime authority’s spokeswoman Jo Meehan said.
The capsized boat was seen 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest of Christmas Island, which is 500 kilometres (310 miles) south of Jakarta and 2,600 kilometres (1,600 miles) from Perth, the nearest major Australian coastal city.
A total of 13 bodies have been spotted, but ships did not interrupt the search for survivors to retrieve the dead.