FED:Up to 50 now feared dead in boat tragedy

AAP General News (Australia)
12-16-2010
FED:Up to 50 now feared dead in boat tragedy

It's now feared more than 50 asylum seekers drowned when their wooden boat smashed
onto rocks on Christmas Island yesterday.

As the search for survivors gets underway today .. Immigration Minister CHRIS BOWEN
says there could have been up to 100 people on board the Indonesian fishing vessel when
it was destroyed in rough seas.

The official death toll stands at 28 .. and refugee advocates and the Australian Greens
have called for an inquiry into how the boat was allowed to reach Christmas Island without
being intercepted.

Former diplomat TONY KEVIN .. who's written about the 2001 sinking of a asylum seeker
boat in which 353 people died .. has told the ABC the radar system used by Border Protection
Command and the navy is brilliant .. and he can't believe this was allowed to happen.

AAP RTV jcd/rl/ar

KEYWORD: BOAT CAPSIZE (CANBERRA)

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