Boat Hits Rocks off Australian Island; 28 Dead

KRISTEN GELINEAU and TANALEE SMITH ABC News 12/15/2010 18:14

Australians on a high cliff watched helplessly Wednesday as a wooden boat smuggling about 70 would-be migrants was smashed against the rocks of Christmas Island by monstrous waves, dumping screaming men, women and children into the stormy surf. At least 28 people died.

The deaths underscored the dangers faced by hundreds of refugees who have tried to sail from Indonesia to Australia in recent years — often in cramped, barely seaworthy boats — to start new lives after escaping from poor, war-ravaged countries.

"It was just horrible. People getting crushed. Bodies, dead children, the whole thing was pretty awful," island resident Simon Prince told The Associated Press.

Some of those aboard were from Iraq, Home Minister Brendan O'Connor said from Christmas Island.

In Canberra, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen told Sky News that 28 people died and 44 have been rescued. Of those saved, 11 were under age 18.

Bowen said that up to 100 people could have been aboard the vessel, although O'Connor said the exact number is still unknown and a rescue effort would resume at dawn Thursday for any survivors.

Women and children were among the dead, Western Australia state Premier Colin Barnett said.

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