The boat carrying up to 80 asylum seekers crashes into rocks off Christmas Island. Channel Nine News. Source: Supplied
The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It has a population of 2,072 residents who live in a number of "Settlement areas" on the northern tip of the island: Flying Fish Cove (also known as Kampong), Silver City, Poon Saan, and Drumsite. The majority of the population is Chinese Australian. It is called Christmas Island because it was discovered on Christmas Day.
The island's geographic isolation and history of minimal human disturbance has led to a high level ofendemism among its flora and fauna, which is of significant interest to scientists and naturalists.[63% of its 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi) is an Australian national park. There exist large areas of primary monsoonal forest.
A wooden fishing boat loaded with asylum seekers was rolling below the cliffs at Flying Fish Cove, on the northern tip of Christmas Island.
Men on board were assuming positions of prayer. Women hugged their kids and shrieked for help. The craft was about to be thrown against the rocks at Rocky Point on the edge of the cove.
It was still unclear last night how many have died. Officially, there were 27 dead. Somehow, at least 42 people had survived.
This morning, the figures were updated to read at least 28 dead and 44 survivors.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service flew two seriously injured women from the island to the Royal Perth Hospital early this morning.
A spokeswoman would not reveal their injuries but said the condition of the women, both aged in their 20s, was "quite serious''.
More patients with minor injuries are expected to be flown to the mainland on a commercial flight today, she said.
Among the dead, believed to be Iraqis and Iranians, were women and children. All had lost their lives in the desperate pursuit of a better life.
They had been thrown against the rocks, some like screaming rag dolls. Or they had drowned.
Onlookers were aghast, reduced to nothing more than merchants of impotent despair. They could do nothing, except to stare at the bodies when they later washed to shore, floating alongside lifejackets that had apparently been unused.
One local resident, Michael Foster, described the asylum seekers as being condemned to one of two options - being forced under the maelstrom of water, or being dashed against the cliffs.
He heard relatives yelling to one another in the water.
"The sea was like a large washing machine, people screaming out, getting tossed around by waves," he said.
"There were swells that were picking people up and throwing them into the wall.
"The swell picked them up 30 to 40 metres out and was bringing them in and smashing them into the wall. It was pretty ugly."
Another resident, Sharon, said that onlookers vainly tried throwing lifejackets and a rope to the overboard passengers, some of whom clung to debris in the water.
"My son saw the body of a little boy floating in the water," she said.
"The whole island is just in shock. I don't know why they came this way. The other side of the island is usually calm. They must have broken down. It's just a tragedy."
Within hours yesterday, locals were condemning Australian Government policy, and perceived navy and Customs inaction, for the tragedy in the Australian territory that has become a byword for immigration detention.
"They will have to look at the policy that led to this," one resident said.
"Before 2008 we had no boats. Now they are arriving all the time."
Questions will echo for months, through halls of Parliament and endless newspaper commentaries. Yet that the boat should not have been there need not be a statement on politics or policies.
For a full week, Christmas Island fishermen had avoided the atrocious conditions, which many locals called the roughest seas they had seen. Waves had rolled as tall as several-storey buildings.
An Australian Customs vessel had a day earlier been unable to unload another 100 asylum seekers.
This was no place for any boat, especially a fishing craft with its hull deep in the water, its blue tarpaulin shredded and flapping as an enduring symbol of wretchedness that awaited.
The local witnesses will be long haunted by the scenes.
"I rang the police straight away to let them know what was going on," said one, John.
"The next thing you know there was probably 20 of us down at the water. I was yelling out, 'Start your motor!' They said it was dead. These people were in big trouble."
The passengers were being buffeted across the deck by the swell. After the impact, the air filled with diesel fumes.
Amid the lifejackets and broken palings bobbed the heads of passengers. Onlookers struggled to distinguish the victims from the debris. About half a dozen passengers clung to large chunks of the hull which, though submerged, had remained intact.
"A lot of them were praying - it was a frightening scene," John said of the moments before the boat was smashed.
"There was chaos in the water. There were small children. There were women.
"The men seemed to hug the life jackets. It was not a very nice sight to see men pushing women away from life jackets and really looking after themselves."
Another witness, Kamar Ismail, saw a father cradling his son, who looked to be about four, before the craft was wrecked.
"Once the boat crashed, I didn't see them any more," Mr Ismail said. "It's sad. You just see the boat rock in front of you close to the cliff, mothers calling for help. You never want to see that."
A large navy vessel and two inflatable boats tried to pick up survivors.
Given the swell, the authorities couldn't get close to the so-called "surge zone" where most of the passengers were pulled in the water.
Yesterday, at least one local was asking why authorities hadn't done more to avert the tragedy. It is just one of hundreds of Christmas Island questions that will be analysed over Christmas.
Additional reporting Wayne Flower, Nick Leys and Shelley Hadfield
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