CANBERRA; Dozens of asylum seekers are feared dead after heavy waves smashed their timber boat onto rocks on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean Wednesday, sinking the boat and throwing 70 to 80 people into stormy seas. Television footage showed the boat rammed bow first onto the rocks, splintering and sinking, and its passengers, including women and children, thrown by waves against razor-sharp rocks. “There are people in the water crying out for help. There's a tragedy unfolding here,” Christmas Island Shire president Gordon Thomson told Australian media. Local media said 41 people had been rescued, but some 30 were still missing after the boat was destroyed around 6 a.m. (2300 GMT) local time. Australia's Flying Doctors service said the death toll could be around 50 with “about 33 walking wounded”. “We threw ropes over the cliffs and we must have thrown in a couple of hundred life jackets. About 15 or 20 people managed to get into the jackets but there are bodies all over the water,” one Christmas Island resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the West Australian newspaper. “There are dead babies, dead women and dead children in the water.” Western Australia state premier Colin Barnett said: “While many details about this tragedy are still unconfirmed, I understand there have been a large number of fatalities”. “Conditions in the ocean off Christmas Island are extremely dangerous,” he said in a statement. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she would return from Christmas leave to ensure she is fully briefed by on the rescue operation.
