Asylum seekers die as boat sinks off Australia
SYDNEY — A wooden boat packed with dozens of asylum seekers smashed apart on cliff-side rocks in heavy seas off an Australian island Wednesday, sending some to their deaths in churning whitewater as horrified islanders watched from above. Rescue efforts were under way and officials said it was not immediately clear how many people were dead. The boat crashed below a cliff on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean where refugee hopefuls are housed in a detention center. “A people smuggler’s boat has crashed into the rocks,” Acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan said. “A number of people have been rescued but sadly, some bodies have been retrieved.” Swan said he did not…
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Asylum seekers die as boat sinks off Australia
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on December 15, 2010. Filed under
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